Indie publisher says 11,000 wishlists turned into a 15-player peak
Publisher 2 Left Thumbs blamed a Steam approval delay and a flood of low-effort AI games after Wheel Make It peaked at 15 concurrent players.
Indie publisher 2 Left Thumbs said its game Wheel Make It reached a peak of only 15 concurrent players on Steam after launch, despite more than 11,000 wishlists, according to a November 3, 2026 report from PC Guide. The publisher pointed to a delay in Steam's approval process and what it called a wave of AI-made games crowding the store.
Why it matters: wishlists are often treated as the main signal of how a Steam launch will go. This is one more public example of that signal falling short, and of small teams struggling for visibility when thousands of games release each week.
For indie developers, the takeaway is not new but worth repeating: plan launch timing with store review times in mind, and keep building an audience outside the store page.
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