If you’re running paid campaigns to drive Steam wishlists, this calculator helps you sanity-check the economics before (or after) you spend.

It’s designed to answer a simple question: given your cost per wishlist and your expected launch conversion rate, does this campaign likely make money—or not?

What “ROI” means (here)

ROI = Return on Investment. In this context, it’s how much money you get back from the campaign relative to what you spent on ads.

• If your gross profit is positive, ROI is positive (you got more back than you spent).
• If gross profit is negative, ROI is negative (you spent more than you got back).

How to use it

• Enter your Ad Spend (and/or set Cost Per Wishlist to model different efficiency levels).
• Enter Wishlists Generated and your expected Wishlist → Sale Conversion Rate at launch.
• Enter your Game Price and Refund Rate.
• Review the breakdown from Gross Revenue → Studio Revenue → Gross Profit to see where the campaign lands.

Tip: Run it twice—once conservative, once optimistic—so you understand the range.

Notes + disclaimers

• The default 10% conversion rate is a rough “middle-of-the-road” assumption for launch wishlist conversion. Your actual rate can be meaningfully higher or lower depending on genre, price, discounting, and launch execution.
• The default 10% refund rate is also a rough median assumption. Refunds can vary a lot by game length, onboarding quality, and player expectations.
• This calculator estimates gross profit from the campaign, not full company profit. It does not include the cost to make the game (dev/art/audio), outsourcing, contractors, tools, publisher cuts, taxes, legal/accounting, or your time—so don’t treat this as a full financial model.
• Results will vary based on traffic quality, regional mix, pricing/discounting, store page conversion, and timing—use real tracking data where possible.

Want some help with your ad campaigns?

If you’d like help pressure-testing your numbers or improving paid performance, reach out and I’ll give you specific guidance for your situation.