Top Steam Next Fest demo reports 124,622 wishlists in about five days

IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator gained 124,622 wishlists in roughly the first five days of the June Steam Next Fest, according to a developer post on r/gamedev. The developer said the project had been sitting at No. 1 or No. 2 on the festival ranking depending on the day and time.

The useful part for other developers is the day-by-day scale. The first day brought around 11,000 new wishlists. The previous day brought around 32,000. At the time of posting, the current day had added roughly 16,000 more. The developer framed the post as a data point for teams trying to estimate what a top-ranked Next Fest demo can produce.

The numbers are strong, but they do not translate automatically into sales. Wishlist conversion depends on genre, price, launch timing, demo quality, and how visible the game remains after the festival ends. Still, a six-figure wishlist gain before launch can affect publisher conversations, launch forecasting, and paid marketing decisions.

The thread reaction was concrete rather than purely celebratory. Commenters asked about team size, development time, starting wishlist count, and what drove the spike. One user also questioned whether 124,000 wishlists was high enough for a No. 1 or No. 2 festival placement, since only a fraction of wishlists normally converts into purchases.

For indie teams, the takeaway is not that every Next Fest game can repeat this result. It is that a top placement can produce measurable demand quickly, and developers need to pair that visibility with a launch plan that turns wishlists into buyers.

Original source · Reddit thread