Tomodachi Life’s long-awaited sequel Living the Dream has caught on with consumers in the United States, according a revamped chart from industry-tracking firm Circana. The new charts from Circana include both actual and projected data, in order to give a more complete picture of what the best-sellers most likely are.
| April 2026 Dollar Sales, Millions | Apr 2025 | Apr 2026 | Change |
| Total Video Game Sales (Projected to Total Market) | $4,131 | $4,256 | 3% |
| Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms) | $3,769 | $3,837 | 2% |
| Video Game Hardware | $196 | $261 | 34% |
| Video Game Accessories | $167 | $159 | -5% |
“US video game spending totaled $4.3 billion in April 2026, growing 3% when compared to a year ago. Year-to-date 2026 spending finished the month 5% higher than 2025, at $18.8 billion,” said Mat Piscatella, Circana’s senior director of video games. “Gains across content and hardware offset spending declines in accessories.”
Hardware sales are largely focused on the Nintendo Switch 2, as it was the best-selling platform for both April and 2026-to-date. These sales offset declines on all other hardware platforms, showing that, with that sole exception, American buyers might be tapped out on console-buying.
| Year-to-Date Dollar Sales, Millions | YTD 2025 | YTD 2026 | Change |
| Total Video Game Sales (Projected to Total Market) | $17,963 | $18,816 | 5% |
| Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms) | $16,170 | $16,670 | 3% |
| Video Game Hardware | $972 | $1,335 | 37% |
| Video Game Accessories | $821 | $811 | -1% |
One thing to note, according to Piscatella, is the sales for the Switch 2 are tracking ahead of sales for the Switch 2 at a comparable point of its life. Similarly, the install base of the PlayStation 5 is ahead of the PlayStation 4 by 2% on a time-aligned basis.
Note: All sales in the charts below are projections from Circana based on physical and full game digital dollar sales, excluding mobile and digital add-on content.
Circana April 2026 | Top 10 best-selling games in the U.S.
| Rank | Last Month Rank | Title | Publisher |
| 1 | NEW | Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream* | Nintendo |
| 2 | NEW | Pragmata^ | Capcom USA |
| 3 | 1 | Crimson Desert* | Pearl Abyss |
| 4 | 2 | MLB: The Show 26^* | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
| 5 | NEW | Windrose* | Kraken Express |
| 6 | 3 | Pokemon: Pokopia* | Nintendo |
| 7 | 13 | Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2* | Nintendo |
| 8 | 218 | Starfield^ | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 9 | NEW | Saros^ | Sony (Corp) |
| 10 | 11 | Mario Kart World* | Nintendo |
*Includes Digital Sales Projections
As stated above, Circana’s new charts include projections of sales data alongside the actual sales data it collects from its partners. With this in mind, it’s very likely that readers will see more Nintendo games on these charts going forward, as well as higher placements for existing Nintendo games.
The Big N has never shared digital sales data with Circana, so up to this point the latter could only take physical data into account when ranking the former’s first-party games. To that end, it’s probably no surprise that the top 10 list for April is dominated by Nintendo games, including Pokopia, Tomodachi Life and Mario Kart World.
On a similar note, the Circana report looks different this month compared with March because we’re working from projected sales data. This information puts Crimson Desert high up on the list, when it was previously in 15th place based on actual sales data. Windrose made it onto the list despite not being available for physical sale at all.
Circana April 2026 |10 best-selling games of 2026 so far
| Rank | Last Month Rank | Title | Publisher |
| 1 | 1 | Resident Evil: Requiem^ | Capcom USA |
| 2 | 2 | Crimson Desert* | Pearl Abyss |
| 3 | 3 | MLB: The Show 26^* | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
| 4 | 4 | Pokemon: Pokopia* | Nintendo |
| 5 | 5 | WWE 2K26^ | Take-Two Interactive |
| 6 | 7 | NBA 2K26^ | Take-Two Interactive |
| 7 | 8 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 7^ | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 8 | 6 | ARC Raiders* | Embark Studios |
| 9 | NEW | Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream* | Nintendo |
| 10 | 9 | Minecraft^* | Multiple Video Game Publishers |
*Includes Digital Sales Projections
This new version of Circana’s year-to-date list makes a few changes with the inclusion of digital sales projections. Crimson Desert is now included, as are Pokopia and ARC Raiders. Marathon is no longer on the list at all.
Piscatella noted on social media that Circana plans to keep its new charts to 10 slots while it gathers feedback for the foreseeable future.