If you want to know where PC gamers are about to spend their money, skip the sales charts and read the wishlists. Steam’s most-wishlisted games are the clearest demand signal in the business, and right now the list is a who’s-who of action games, revived franchises, and ambitious newcomers. For developers, publishers, and anyone selling to players, that top 20 is a free market-research dashboard — and it currently belongs to Phantom Blade Zero.
Phantom Blade Zero Leads a Stacked Pack
S-GAME’s stylish martial-arts action title sits at the top with roughly 1.62 million wishlists, and it launches at the end of October — turning all that pent-up demand into a real-world test almost immediately.
Behind it, the competition is fierce. The vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker has pulled in around 1.47 million wishlists, while Capcom’s long-awaited Onimusha: Way of the Sword sits near 1.18 million. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 revives a beloved strategy name with about 1.14 million, and the neon city-builder Nivalis rounds out the upper tier close to 932,000.
Further down, you’ll find Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, Mortal Shell 2, Beast of Reincarnation, and Star Wars Zero Company — plus Gears of War: E-Day holding strong near 633,000 wishlists even as an Xbox-first blockbuster.
Why Wishlists Are the Real Scoreboard
A wishlist is the closest thing Steam has to a pre-order with no money attached. When a player adds a game, they’re raising their hand and saying “tell me when this launches or goes on sale.” Steam does exactly that, firing off email and on-site notifications the moment a discount or release hits.
That matters commercially. A big wishlist count feeds Steam’s recommendation algorithm, boosts day-one sales, and gives publishers hard data to plan marketing and print runs around. Smart studios watch their wishlist velocity the way a startup watches its waitlist — it’s intent you can measure before you ever ship.
What the Top 20 Says About 2026
Three trends jump out. First, premium single-player and action games still command enormous anticipation, pushing back on the idea that only live-service titles win. Second, studios from across Asia are surging, with S-GAME and Capcom both landing near the summit. Third, players clearly love a revival — Dawn of War, Onimusha, and Gears of War are all proof that a trusted name converts attention into wishlists fast.
For BizzNerd readers building anything from a game to a brand, the lesson is the same: measurable demand beats hype. The companies topping this chart spent months building visible anticipation long before launch day.
The Takeaway
Wishlists are promises, not sales. The real story arrives when these games launch and we see how much of that demand converts to day-one purchases. For now, the top 20 is the sharpest look you’ll get at what PC gamers actually want next — and a reminder that attention, carefully earned, is the first currency of any successful release.
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