Run a Steam giveaway that rewards players for wishlisting your game, playing it and joining your Steam group.
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Steam Game Promotion Giveaway Template
Run a Steam giveaway that rewards players for wishlisting your game, playing it and joining your Steam group.
Before launch, make Wishlist on Steam the Mandatory action and delete Play a Game until your game is out, because nobody can log hours on a game they cannot buy yet.
What This Template Does
Run a Steam giveaway that grows your wishlist before launch and keeps players coming back after it. The template includes the Wishlist on Steam, Play a Game and Join a Group actions, plus Discord, social, email and referral actions, so you keep the ones that suit your release stage and delete the rest.
Gleam checks each Steam action with Steam before the entry counts. A wishlist entry means your game is on that player's wishlist, and a Play a Game entry means they have played it.
Template Features
- Wishlist on Steam, checked against each entrant's Steam wishlist
- Play a Game, with an optional minimum of hours played
- Join a Group for your Steam Community group
- Discord, YouTube, Facebook and X actions you can keep or delete
- A Subscribe action to build your email list
- Viral Share for bonus entries when friends enter
Benefits of This Template
- Grows your Steam wishlist before launch, so Steam emails more players on release day
- Rewards the players who already put hours into a released game
- Builds your Steam group and your email list from one campaign
- Skips the screenshot checks, because Gleam verifies each Steam action itself
Gaming brands ask for a lot of actions and almost never ask for an email. Gaming and esports giveaways got around 398 people entering. The typical one ran 12 days and asked for 8 actions. Only 16.2 percent asked for an email address. That comes from 24,250 giveaways run by 4,663 businesses, all with at least 100 people entering.
This template keeps the Subscribe action in, so you hold on to the addresses after the draw. Most gaming giveaways ask for more than they need. Trim yours to two or three actions for your release stage, rather than running all of them.
Who Should Use It
- Studios and solo developers building wishlists before launch, around a trailer, demo or festival
- Studios with a released game running a free weekend, an update or a sale
- Publishers giving away Steam keys, DLC or in-game items
- Streamers promoting a partner studio's game to their audience
Integration Support
- Wishlist on Steam setup
- Play a Game setup
- Join a Group setup
- Discord membership check
- Facebook, X and other entry methods
Official Gleam Resources
- How to Grow Your Steam Community With Giveaways: which giveaway to run at each release stage, Valve's rules and how to read the result in Steamworks
- Steam Actions Setup: every Steam action, with a live demo of each
- 150+ Prize Ideas for Your Next Contest: prizes that suit a gaming audience
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Wishlist on Steam gives entrants an entry for adding your game to their Steam wishlist, and we check their wishlist before the entry counts.
Use Gleam to run a launch giveaway tied to key actions like wishlist adds, follows, and referrals. Click to see how to boost visibility and build momentum.
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How to Set Up Your Steam Game Promotion Giveaway
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Choose Your Release Stage
Before launch, the goal is wishlists. After launch, the goal is players, group members and sales. Your stage decides which actions you keep in step 3. -
Pick a Prize Players Want
Offer Steam keys, DLC, merch or in-game items. Valve's Steam Keys rules ask for the same deal on Steam when you give away 100 or more free keys, and a pre-release key removes your game from the winner's wishlist, so send keys after launch or use Steam Playtest for early access. -
Set Up the Steam Actions
Paste your Steam Store URL into Wishlist on Steam and Play a Game, and your group URL into Join a Group. Before launch, set Wishlist on Steam to Mandatory and delete Play a Game. After launch, keep Play a Game and Join a Group. Leave Don't Allow Limited Accounts switched on to keep out throwaway accounts.
➡ Configure the Steam actions -
Trim the Other Actions
Keep Subscribe and one community action, such as a Discord membership check, and delete the social actions your players do not use. If you keep Discord, you're responsible for following Discord's rules.
➡ Edit your entry methods -
Keep Viral Share On
Entrants get bonus entries when friends enter through their link.
➡ Set up Viral Share referrals -
Set the Dates and Design
Before launch, end the giveaway before your release date, so every wishlist it collects is on the list when Steam sends its launch email. Add your game art and capsule colours.
➡ Set up your Competition -
Install the Giveaway
Embed it on your website, or share the Gleam-hosted page with your Discord, newsletter and social followers.
➡ Install your Competition -
Draw Winners and Send Prizes
Draw winners with Gleam's draw tool, then send each one their key or prize. Compare your wishlist adds in Steamworks for the giveaway days against the weeks before.
➡ Draw and verify winners
Run a Steam giveaway that rewards players for wishlisting your game, playing it and joining your Steam group.