Chasing Wishes

There's a lot of extremely confident advice about Steam's algorithm. Get a certain number of wishlists and Steam will apparently unlock the secret door to the homepage. Developers like to throw around "YOU NEED 10k TO TREND".

We are all guessing!

So what does Valve actually say...

Do wishlists push your game up the rankings?

Valve's Visibility on Steam documentation says that wishlists mostly aren't a factor in a game's algorithmic visibility, with exceptions such as the Popular Upcoming tab.

It also says store-page traffic alone isn't a ranking factor, and neither is the percentage of visitors who buy. At launch, actual customer interest, purchases, playing and other signals influence which games get further exposure.

Then why gather wishlists?

Valve's wishlist documentation explains that wishlisters can receive notifications when a game launches or transitions out of Early Access. Wishlists can affect some upcoming-game lists and personalized reminders too, they represent potential customers who've made a deliberate choice to follow the game and MAY buy it.

Where broadcasts really do add visibility

This is the part I wish more developers knew. A properly configured Steam broadcast can appear on your game's store page and the Community Broadcast hub. Valve says popular streams can be featured on the Steam homepage, and developer/publisher homepages and special sale landing pages can include configured livestreams. The official overview explains this.

That's a collection of potential viewing locations, separate from the normal algorithmic visibility of the game capsule. Some are standard; others are conditional. I wouldn't lump them into one 'broadcasting guarantees ranking' claim.

Make the extra attention count

If a viewer sees gameplay through the Broadcast hub, I'd want them to understand what the game is within seconds. If they land on the product page, I want the capsule and description to support what the footage promised.

For a prelaunch title, wishlisting is the reasonable next action. After release, it might be a purchase, a demo download or following the game for updates.