Dear Passengers Crew Briefing
← All verified briefings

DATA TIMELINE · STEAM WISHLISTS

Dear Passengers Wishlist Timeline: 700K to Two Million and Top 3

A dated, source-by-source Dear Passengers wishlist timeline, current Steam chart snapshot, and careful explanation of what those signals do and do not prove.

Reporting rule: confirmed facts are tied to named sources. Interpretation is labeled, and missing details stay unknown until FLEXUS or Steam publishes them.

Verified sequence: FLEXUS reported 700,000 wishlists after 36 hours, one million within two days, 1.5 million on July 20, and two million plus a Steam Top 6 position on July 31. On August 27, FLEXUS officially posted that the game had reached No. 4 on Steam. On September 6 (UTC+8), the studio announced a Top 3 most-wishlisted position. The first four figures are developer-published totals; the later items are dated ranks rather than new wishlist counts. Neither is sales or retention data.

  1. 700,000

    FLEXUS said the game reached 700,000 wishlists in its first 36 hours.

    Open official announcement ↗
  2. 1,000,000

    FLEXUS announced one million wishlists and a Steam Top 25 position within two days.

    Open official announcement ↗
  3. 1,500,000

    The official Steam announcement marked another half-million reported additions.

    Open official announcement ↗
  4. 2,000,000

    FLEXUS reported two million wishlists and a Steam Top 6 position.

    Open official announcement ↗
  5. Steam No. 4

    FLEXUS officially posted that Dear Passengers had reached No. 4 on Steam.

    Open official announcement ↗
  6. Steam Top 3

    FLEXUS announced a Top 3 most-wishlisted position. The post is September 5 in UTC; no new wishlist total was announced.

    Open official announcement ↗

Why the sequence is worth recording

A single round number is easy to repeat without context. A timeline is more useful because each point can be tied to a date and a publisher-controlled page. It also prevents two common errors: assigning the later total to an earlier announcement, and treating “close to two million” from the July 22 teaser as if FLEXUS had already announced the milestone.

The sequence shows that the largest reported burst happened immediately after the reveal, followed by continued additions through the end of July. Calculating an exact daily curve would still be misleading because only four snapshots are public. We do not know the total on the days between them, when each Steam ranking was captured, or whether FLEXUS used the same measurement cutoff for every post.

What a Steam wishlist means

A wishlist records user interest and lets Steam notify that user about relevant store events. It is not a purchase, active-player count, review, concurrent user, or guaranteed conversion. Some users may never buy; others may wait for a demo, discount, platform announcement, or friend group. The milestone is therefore a demand signal rather than revenue.

The ranking has a similar limit. “Top 6” describes the position FLEXUS reported on July 31; “No. 4” describes the position FLEXUS reported on August 27; “Top 3” is its September 6 (UTC+8) announcement, dated September 5 in UTC. None is permanent. Rankings can move as other games launch campaigns or release, so every placement needs a date and a source.

What the numbers do not prove

  • They do not reveal paid sales or launch revenue.
  • They do not establish a release date, price, or conversion rate.
  • They do not prove the maximum player count or any unannounced feature.
  • They do not measure demo quality, retention, or long-term review sentiment.
  • They do not guarantee that every wishlist is unique, active, or still present.
  • They do not make third-party estimates equivalent to Steam's private data.

Milestone math, with the correct caveats

The published checkpoints imply at least 300,000 additional reported wishlists between the 700,000 and one-million posts, 500,000 between one million and 1.5 million, and another 500,000 by July 31. Those differences are arithmetic on public claims, not a complete acquisition dataset. There is no basis for assigning each increase to a specific trailer, country, creator, or channel without analytics from FLEXUS.

Editorial wording rule

We say “FLEXUS reported” or “FLEXUS announced,” keep the date attached, and avoid converting wishlists into sales. If Steam or FLEXUS later corrects a figure, the source ledger records the revision.

What could change the story next

Another wishlist post would extend the same pre-release series. A public demo would add a different kind of evidence: players could evaluate how the systems feel rather than only how widely the trailer spread. Release would introduce price, purchases, reviews, concurrent players, patches, and retention signals. Those measurements answer different questions and should not be merged into one popularity number.

For current availability rather than popularity, use the release and demo tracker. To audit each milestone alongside other site claims, open the official source ledger.

Sources checked

  1. July 15, 2026: 700,000

    FLEXUS said the game reached 700,000 wishlists in its first 36 hours.

  2. July 17, 2026: 1,000,000

    FLEXUS announced one million wishlists and a Steam Top 25 position within two days.

  3. July 20, 2026: 1,500,000

    The official Steam announcement marked another half-million reported additions.

  4. July 31, 2026: 2,000,000

    FLEXUS reported two million wishlists and a Steam Top 6 position.

  5. August 27, 2026: Steam No. 4

    FLEXUS officially posted that Dear Passengers had reached No. 4 on Steam.

  6. September 6, 2026 (UTC+8): Steam Top 3

    FLEXUS announced a Top 3 most-wishlisted position. The post is September 5 in UTC; no new wishlist total was announced.