Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream claimed the top spot on the US monthly video game sales charts for April 2026, according to Circana executive director Mat Piscatella. The result carries extra weight this month because Circana debuted a new tracking methodology that, for the first time, accounts more accurately for digital sales from publishers who have historically refused to share that data.
Tomodachi Life tops April charts
Why Circana changed how it counts sales
For years, Nintendo has declined to share its digital sales figures with Circana, which meant Nintendo titles were routinely underrepresented on the monthly charts. The old model only counted what publishers handed over, and Nintendo simply did not hand anything over on the digital side.
Circana's new approach splits reporting into two categories: Digital Point of Sale Actuals (real numbers from participating publishers) and Digital Sales Projections (estimated figures for non-participating publishers like Nintendo). Piscatella explained the shift in an interview with Kotaku, noting that the market has evolved significantly since the Digital Leader Panel launched in the early 2010s.
"The new methodology will allow us to capture not only the success of a game like Windrose, which would have not been captured in prior reporting, but will also allow for more accurate relative performance reporting on titles from non-participating traditional publishers like Nintendo," Piscatella said.
He was candid about the limits of the new system, too. In a post on BlueSky, Piscatella acknowledged that fully accurate, all-publisher point-of-sale data "is never going to happen, either publicly or privately." The projection model is the best available compromise, and the stated goal is to keep refining it over time.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream's April number one ranking is based on combined physical sales data and digital sales projections, not confirmed digital actuals. Some margin of error applies to all projected figures.
The April top 10, broken down
With the new method applied, here is how April 2026 shook out across the top five:
Pragmata, the long-in-development Capcom action game, came in second with actual digital data included. Crimson Desert held third, continuing a strong run since its launch. Windrose, the pirate-themed early access game, cracked the top five despite only releasing partway through the month, which Piscatella specifically cited as a title the old methodology would have missed entirely.
Saros, the latest PlayStation Studios single-player game, squeezed into ninth place. The Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 collection also had a notable month, boosted by the Super Mario Galaxy Movie releasing at the start of April.
Circana April 2026 top sellers
Where things stand for the full year
The year-to-date picture looks different from the monthly snapshot. Tomodachi Life only managed ninth place on the 2026 running chart, while Resident Evil Requiem holds the top spot for best-selling game of the year so far. Crimson Desert officially entered second place on the annual chart under the new tracking method, which is itself a direct result of Circana's updated projections finally capturing its digital performance.
Pokémon Pokopia sits fourth on the year-to-date list, a game Nintendo has acknowledged as a system seller for Switch 2. ARC Raiders holds eighth place year-to-date, just above Tomodachi Life's ninth.
On the hardware side, Nintendo Switch 2 was the best-selling console in April. It is currently outpacing the original Switch by 11% on a time-aligned basis. The PlayStation 5 came in second but is running 2% ahead of where PS4 was at the same point in its lifecycle, according to Piscatella.
The practical takeaway here is that Circana's new methodology is likely to surface more Nintendo titles in the upper reaches of future charts, given how much digital revenue Nintendo generates that was previously invisible to these reports. For a fuller picture of how these games actually play, check out game reviews for the biggest April releases. And if you want to get the most out of any of the titles climbing the charts, gaming guides cover the strategies worth knowing before you jump in.
