Steam Cost Per Wishlist by Genre: Benchmarks From 105 Creator Campaigns

Short answer: across 105 short-form creator campaigns on Trapster, the median cost per Steam wishlist was $0.49. A quarter of campaigns came in under $0.17, and a quarter went over $1.41. Strategy, horror, RPG and simulation games had the lowest medians, between $0.33 and $0.42. Co-op and multiplayer games had the highest, at $0.76. Genre moves the number, but the clip and the store page move it more: in most genres, the best and worst quarters sit more than five times apart.

These numbers come from our own campaign data, not from a survey. We update this page as more campaigns finish.

Cost per wishlist by genre

Genre	Campaigns	Median cost per wishlist	Best quarter under	Worst quarter over	Campaigns under $0.50
All genres	105	$0.49	$0.17	$1.41	50%
Strategy	20	$0.33	$0.16	$0.48	75%
Horror	9	$0.35	$0.12	$0.84	56%
RPG	23	$0.36	$0.20	$3.77	57%
Simulation and management	56	$0.42	$0.12	$0.93	54%
Casual and cozy	33	$0.44	$0.22	$1.41	52%
Action	42	$0.46	$0.14	$3.12	52%
Adventure	45	$0.54	$0.24	$4.39	47%
Co-op and multiplayer	11	$0.76	$0.26	$3.01	45%

A game with several Steam tags counts in each of its genres, so the rows add up to more than 105. Racing and roguelike games had fewer than five campaigns each, so we left them out of the table.

How we measured it

• Campaigns: every completed short-form campaign on Trapster (TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels) with at least $500 paid to creators and a Steam wishlist reading before launch.
• Wishlists: growth on the game's Steam page from launch day to 14 days after the campaign ended. The two extra weeks catch viewers who find the game later.
• Conservative cut: we count only half of that growth. A game also gains wishlists from its own social posts, festivals and Steam traffic, and we would rather undersell than credit creators for all of it.
• Cost: what creators were paid, without the platform fee.

Our case studies use the studio's own Steamworks numbers instead of public page estimates. That is why individual cases there, like Very Safe Dino Park at $0.10 or Fracture Point at $0.24, look better than the medians here. Treat this table as the floor to plan from, and the cases as what a strong campaign looks like.

Why the spread inside a genre is so wide

The gap between the best and the worst quarter is bigger than the gap between genres. Two simulation games can land at $0.12 and $0.93 with the same budget and the same platforms. What usually separates them:

• A premise that reads in one second. "Crime scene cleaner", "dino park where everything goes wrong". Viewers wishlist what they can explain to a friend.
• The game's name on screen. If a viewer has to hunt for the title, most won't.
• A store page that closes. Creators bring people to the page. The capsule, trailer and first screenshots decide whether they click wishlist. The checklist is in how to get more Steam wishlists.
• Something to act on now. A demo, a Next Fest slot or a launch date gives a viewer a reason to wishlist today. See how to market a Steam demo.

We broke this down with real campaigns in how to turn creator views into Steam wishlists.

What the numbers say about each genre

Strategy was the most predictable: three out of four campaigns came in under $0.50. Strategy players wishlist early and follow games for months, so a clip that shows the core loop does the job.

Horror converts well when the clip is built around one scare or one mechanic. It is also the genre where a weak hook gets swiped fastest. More in how to market a horror game.

Simulation and management is the biggest group on Trapster and sits right under the median. The best results come from sims with a strange or funny premise rather than a realistic one. See how to market a simulator game.

RPG and action have healthy medians but long tails. When a clip shows combat that looks like every other game in the genre, the cost climbs fast.

Co-op and multiplayer came out highest. A co-op game sells the feeling of playing with friends, and a short clip of one player shows less of that. Clips with two or more creators playing together do better. See how to market a co-op game.

How to use these benchmarks

1. Pick your row. Use the median as your plan and the worst quarter as your risk case.
2. Budget backwards. At the all-genre median, every $1,000 that reaches creators buys about 2,000 wishlists. A $3,000 campaign puts $2,400 in front of creators, which is roughly 4,900 wishlists at the median and about 1,700 in the worst quarter.
3. Connect Steamworks. With your Steamworks key connected, Trapster tracks your real daily wishlists instead of public estimates, so you can see your own number against this table.
4. Fix the store page first. The fastest way from the worst quarter to the best is usually a clearer capsule and trailer, not a bigger budget.

If you want a number for your own game, send us your Steam page and we will put together a forecast by genre and budget.

FAQ

What is a good cost per wishlist on Steam? On Trapster's short-form creator campaigns, the median is $0.49 per wishlist on a conservative count. Anything under $0.20 is in the best quarter. Over $1.40 is in the worst quarter.

Which game genre gets the cheapest wishlists from creators? Strategy, horror and RPG had the lowest medians, from $0.33 to $0.36. Strategy was also the most consistent, with 75% of campaigns under $0.50.

Why are co-op games more expensive per wishlist? A short clip usually shows one player, while a co-op game sells playing together. Clips where several creators play together close that gap.

How is cost per wishlist calculated here? What creators were paid, divided by half of the Steam wishlist growth from campaign launch to 14 days after it ended. The platform fee is not included.

Are these numbers guaranteed? No. They describe past campaigns. Your result depends mostly on your clip hook and store page, which is why campaigns in the same genre can differ several times over.