Kirill Oreshkin, head of Polden Publishing, analyzed the sources from which indie games on Steam receive wishlists. He shared his observations on LinkedIn.
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According to Oreshkin, influencers who create vertical videos about games on TikTok, Instagram*, and YouTube are generally the biggest contributors to wishlists. They alone can generate about 35% of wishlists. The publisher noted that the greatest impact is achieved during announcements, demo launches, or playtests.
Oreshkin mentioned that Steam's own algorithms contribute another 25% of wishlists. An additional 25% comes from friends of gamers who have already added the game to their wishlist, which works particularly well for cooperative projects.
Another significant source of wishlists is streamers on Twitch and YouTubers, responsible for 10%. Despite this seemingly small number, Oreshkin highlighted that these streamers and YouTubers often bring the most engaged audience, one that not only wishes for the game but is also likely to purchase it in the future.
The remaining 5% of wishlists, according to Oreshkin's estimates, are generated by the developers themselves through their own created content. This can include posts on Reddit, social media, vertical videos, and more.
Additionally, Oreshkin announced a new milestone for Polden Publishing. The publisher's revenue exceeded $6 million, and the sales of their published games reached 650,000 copies.
*Owned by Meta, which is banned in Russia and recognized as an extremist organization.