The top 2026 games by Steam wishlists
We look at our 2026 wishlist data, including pre-launch Steam revenue and copies sold for Forza Horizon 6 and Resident Evil 9. We also answer the question ''How can I track wishlist conversion?''
As ever, January was a pretty slow month for new AAA games, with titles from last year dominating our Steam and PlayStation rankings alike.
The release calendar is really starting to heat up now, with Resident Evil Requiem right around the corner, Mewgenics dropping today (is the work day over yet!?), and a few other big guns on the horizon.
Let’s take a look at the confirmed 2026 games people have wishlisted most on Steam.
Subnautica 2 has the most Steam wishlists out of confirmed 2026 games
It’s worth noting that Valve’s official ‘’Top Wishlists’’ ranking on Steam isn’t a 1:1 total wishlist count for games. While the count is obviously a major input, Steam’s official ranking also emphasises recent “velocity” (how quickly a game is gaining new wishlists) and other factors.
With that in mind, our estimates show that Subnautica 2 is currently the most wishlisted Steam game with a 2026 release date, with 3.8M wishlists:
Subnautica 2’s impressive pre-launch metrics are no surprise. The original game has sold 15M copies across all platforms, and even the 2019 standalone expansion, Subnautica: Below Zero, is approaching 5M. Steam is the series’' main platform, accounting for two-thirds of total sales.
Still, a major part of Subnautica 2’s #1 position is due to its extended presence on the storefront. It’s been available for wishlisting since November 2024 – far longer than the other two titles in the top three.
Recent months have shown a stabilisation in Subnautica 2 wishlist growth, likely because a significant portion of the core audience has already engaged with the store page. But community updates, such as the Leviathan dev log in September, continue to generate renewed interest.
As the release window approaches, the data suggests the sequel is positioned to … make a big splash later this year.
Forza Horizon 6 is on track for a huge launch in May
Meanwhile, Forza Horizon 6 has amassed 2.6M Steam wishlists since its game page went live on September 25, 2025. This followed its reveal at the Tokyo Game Show, a fitting venue given the game’s Japanese setting.
Pre-purchases became available five months later on January 22, after the release date announcement during the Xbox Developer_Direct broadcast.
Forza Horizon 6 has added over 800K wishlists since that release date announcement on Jan 22, with over 200K wishlists in the two days following the Direct.
As of February 9, Forza Horizon 6 has already SOLD 220k copies on Steam, generating about $13M in revenue – and with more than three months remaining until the official launch.
Our data shows that nearly 7% of Forza Horizon 6’s Steam wishlisters are based in Japan – significantly higher than the country’s typical Steam share. That’s even more evidence of local themes resonating strongly with local players.
Around 40% of Forza Horizon 6’s wishlisters previously played the previous game on Steam. Overall, Forza Horizon 5 has generated $290M on Steam in four years.
With revenues of $300M, the PS5 version of FH5 has surpassed that in less than a year despite selling fewer copies (5.3M vs 7.3M). This is because many Steam users bought FH5 during deep discount periods.
While Forza Horizon 6 is scheduled for a later date on PS5, a simultaneous multi-platform launch might have better maximised the initial marketing momentum – especially given PS5’s popularity in Japan.
Xbox’s shifting third-party strategy throughout Forza Horizon 6’s development cycle likely led to the current staggered release plan. Maybe we’ll get a day-one PS6 launch for Forza Horizon 7, which would land in about – checks notes – 2030…
To get four days early access for Forza Horizon 6, players can purchase a $120 premium edition or – if they’re a Game Pass subscriber – pay a $60 “Premium Upgrade” fee. Let’s have a quick look at that strategy before moving on to the Resident Evil numbers.
Xbox is leveraging FOMO to maximise profitability
While these SKUs include digital goodies, the value proposition is more anchored in social FOMO I reckon. Notably, the $100 “Deluxe” tier does NOT include advanced access, further funnelling high-intent spenders toward the most expensive bracket. Classic decoy effect in action…
In the AAA games market, FOMO is a powerful marketing tool for high-spending superfan audiences. These obsessive fans are willing to fork up an extra $50 on top of an already $70 game just to play it a few days early.
In a world of spoilers and instant memes, waiting for the standard release date can mean being a secondary observer to the discoveries, discourse, and collective excitement that define a major launch. To some fans, paying for early entry is an investment in their ability to contribute to that conversation.
The hype timelines in games are also fewer and further between than other mediums. While a TV show or movie franchise might drop every two years, the gap between AAA sequels has stretched to five, seven, or even ten years.
Even in Forza Horizon’s case, with 4.5 years between entries, hype can reach a fever pitch among superfans that bypasses traditional price elasticity. Especially when we add a long-requested Japan setting to the mix.
It’s something of a high-margin psychological tax, and it’s one I’ve paid many times, if I’m being honest. I’ve even done it for a few Xbox Game Studios games in the past. And I’ve noticed the price has been creeping up, and at a steeper rate than the $60-to-$70 base game jump, too.
Forza Horizon 5’s equivalent premium tiers were priced at $100 versus the new game’s $120 (non-Game Pass). The upgrade for Game Pass subscribers was $50 versus FH6’s $60 (even though Game Pass prices are way higher now and day-one access is locked behind Ultimate).
By raising these prices by 20%ish between FH5 and FH6, Xbox is testing the price elasticity of its most dedicated player base to offset rising development costs and Game Pass cannibalisation. Oh, and funding the parent company’s cash-to-AI cost furnace, of course. It all reflects Microsoft’s mandate for increased profitability.
Anyway, In-game leaderboard data provides a rare, transparent look at high-intent consumer behaviour when it comes to these kinds of upgrades. The last game, Forza Horizon 5, has an in-game leaderboard with player counts.
On the last day of the advanced-access period (yes, I ugraded…), I took a screenshot of the leaderboard, and over a million people paid for early access:
Let’s see how well Forza Horizon 6 does and how many wishlisters convert on Steam. Click subscribe below to get a deep dive on the game’s launch performance when the time comes.
Resident Evil Requiem is gearing up for a monstrous Steam launch
Resident Evil Requiem is currently the #3 most-wishlisted 2026 game on Steam, boasting 2.5M wishlists on Valve’s platform alone.
Requiem is basically a mechanical retrospective of the series’ 30-year history, with Capcom opting for a dual-protagonist structure that splits the experience into two genres: campy, over-the-top action (Leon) and methodical survival horror (Grace).
The over-the-top Leon section is an evolution of the Resident Evil 4 Remake formula (previously played by 39% of Requiem wishlisters on Steam), while Grace’s survival horror is a continuation of Resident Evil 7 gameplay (played by 37%).
Capcom recently announced that Requiem has surpassed 5M total wishlists across all platforms. This makes sense: despite PlayStation being the de-facto home of Resident Evil, Steam users have been more conditioned to wishlist.
Our data shows that of the 13M copies sold for the Resident Evil 4 Remake, PlayStation accounted for 53.6%, Steam for 35.8%, and Xbox for 10.6%.
In 2021, Capcom said it wanted to make PC its primary platform. This has largely happened thanks to the Monster Hunter franchise. In 2025, Steam accounted for 63% of the 11 million copies sold for Monster Hunter Wilds, up from 55% for Monster Hunter World in 2018.
While Resident Evil remains console-first in sentiment, Requiem is already showing a strong early performance on PC, with 250k copies sold on Steam, amounting to nearly $15M in revenue.
Capcom traditionally releases a public demo two weeks before launch for a final conversion push. Given the existence of the gamescom vertical slice, which was awesome by the way, I’m expecting a similar demo rollout for Requiem.
The inevitable demo will be the ultimate test of whether the “action-horror” split attracts a broader audience or creates a fragmented experience. Assuming there is a demo, it’ll likely result in plenty of new wishlisters, too.
But how many of the new wishlisters during the maybe-demo will actually bite the bullet and buy the game?
Tracking Steam wishlist conversion
While Steam provides developers with internal data and general tips on wishlist additions, tracking conversions remains an annoying challenge – especially for competitor analyses.
A new addition to our platform addresses this by grouping wishlist additions into monthly cohorts, allowing for a granular breakdown of conversion rates based on the time since the initial addition (e.g., 7D, 30D, 90D, 180D, and 365D).
Here’s how that Steam data looks for Monster Hunter Wilds in our platform:
We can see above that of the 274K people who wishlisted MHW in its launch month of February 2025:
7% converted to buyers after a week.
21% converted after 30 days.
24% converted after 90 days, and so on.
Conversion rates drop sharply among those who wishlised MHW in the months after the release window. This confirms that users who wishlist a game after it has already launched are typically high-intent “waiters” who are holding out for steeper discounts or major content milestones rather than purchasing at full price.
This functionality in our platform also allows you to see how many wishlisters converted in the month cohorts after launch. Our clients are already using this data to pinpoint the individual marketing beats that drove conversions.
Want to see this data for yourself? Get your free trial of our platform.
As titles like Resident Evil Requiem and Forza Horizon 6 transition from wishlist cohorts to even more live revenue, we’ll be keeping an eye on the data.
Hit subscribe above, and stay tuned as we continue to track these shifts in real time.
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I mean to be honest here if a game deserves more cash upfront than its FH. Because that shit really is that good and you have tons and tons of stuff to do in those open worlds. If you are into that anyway. Playground Games produces high level and high qualtiy contents. They never missed so far. Except (at least for me) with the Hot Wheels expansion. Not interesting at all for me.