Steam wishlist velocity
In the Shypiard observatory, 38% of struggling launches are a post-launch velocity problem — a drop that, caught in time, gets fixed in a few days. Caught a month later, it's already spread through the algorithm.
How often should I check wishlist velocity?
The algorithm measures in days. Your tracking should too.
Steam evaluates velocity over rolling windows of a few days to two weeks. A monthly report catches a problem after it's already affected three or four algorithmic measurement cycles — the time to react was already lost before the report even lands in the inbox.
Weekly tracking isn't about excessive rigor: it's simply matching the pace at which the system you're trying to influence makes its own decisions.
What is wishlist velocity on Steam?
Each one answers a different question.
Wishlist velocity (7-day delta, not the cumulative total) answers "is it still climbing." 30-day rolling positive review ratio (not the displayed overall rating) answers "is recent reception declining." 7-day rolling CCU answers "are the players who buy sticking around." Mentions outside your community (Reddit, third-party Discords) answer "is a conversation starting without you."
None of these four numbers alone tells the whole story — it's reading them together that distinguishes a normal slowdown from a real warning sign.
When is wishlist velocity too low?
Two flat weeks, not one.
One week of flat wishlist velocity can be noise — a quiet weekend, a competing piece of news. Two consecutive weeks with no movement is a signal: it's time to publish the next visibility event rather than wait for a third flat week that would only confirm what you already know.
What should I do if wishlists drop?
Not every drop is treated the same way.
A velocity drop with a stable positive-review ratio is a reach problem — publish content or re-engage creators. A velocity drop paired with a falling review ratio is a reception problem — a patch or a page clarification matters more than a new visibility push that would only amplify an unresolved issue.
Post-launch shows up on the store page
DLC: 75/100 versus 16/100. Updates: 99/100 versus 81/100 (5 documented silences on the low-review side). News without traffic is still zero velocity — Diets & Deities has 19 announcements and 15 reviews.
Tracking these four numbers reveals that a problem exists and what kind — it doesn't by itself provide the action plan or the creators to re-contact. The free launch diagnostic or the Launch program sets up this tracking along with the plan that goes with it.