Tomodachi Life tops April US sales as Circana changes how it tracks digital game data

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream was the best selling game in the United States for April 2026, according to Circana’s latest monthly sales report. Pragmata followed in second place, while Crimson Desert continued its strong run by landing in third for the month. The update is notable not only because of which games ranked high, but also because Circana has changed how it reports sales data to better reflect the modern games market.

Circana’s new method now includes two key categories: Digital Point of Sale Actuals and Digital Sales Projections. This matters because some publishers, including Nintendo, do not fully share digital sales data. In the past, that made charts less complete, especially for games where digital sales were likely strong but not officially reported. The new system uses projections to give a better estimate of how games from non participating publishers are performing.

The new tracking method gives Nintendo games a clearer place in monthly sales charts

Mat Piscatella of Circana said the market has changed since the company first began using its digital data sharing panel in the early 2010s. He explained that the new method should better capture games that were previously harder to measure, while also making Nintendo’s relative sales performance more accurate. The tradeoff is that projected sales naturally include some margin of error, but Circana says this approach gives a more realistic picture than relying only on incomplete actual data.

With that new system in place, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream took first place in April using physical sales and projected digital sales together. Pragmata, which includes actual digital point of sale data, came in second. Crimson Desert placed third, while MLB The Show 26 ranked fourth and Windrose took fifth.

The yearly chart also changed under the new method. Tomodachi Life entered the top ten best selling games of 2026 so far in ninth place. Pokémon Pokopia, which Nintendo has described as an important system seller, is currently fourth for the year. Resident Evil Requiem remains the best selling game of 2026 so far, while Crimson Desert has moved into second place thanks to Circana’s updated tracking.

Hardware results also favored Nintendo. The Switch 2 was the best selling console in April 2026. PlayStation 5 came in second, but it still had a solid month, tracking 2 percent ahead of PlayStation 4 on a time aligned basis. Switch 2 is performing even better against its predecessor, running 11 percent ahead of the original Switch on the same time aligned comparison.

The change in Circana’s reporting could make future monthly charts more interesting, especially for Nintendo titles. If projected digital sales give a more complete picture, games that were previously undercounted may appear stronger in public rankings. For now, April’s chart shows Tomodachi Life leading the month, Crimson Desert gaining ground for the year, and Switch 2 continuing to show strong hardware momentum in the US.