Circana is the most reliable sales tracker available for the United States, but I’m fascinated to see how digital sales projections alter its results.
While most publishers share full data with the analytics firm, there are a few holdouts like Nintendo which keep that information private. That massively affects its reporting, of course – especially in this era of digital domination.
This latest report for April blends real digital data from the publishers who share it with estimates on those who don’t. That means Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the best-selling game for the period, but only its physical sales are confirmed – its digital data is estimated.
It also means we’re only getting a top ten this time around, as analyst Mat Piscatella notes titles lower in the rankings may be within its projections’ margin for error, thus rendering those numbers less useful.
I’m not sure how I feel about this.
I appreciate Circana’s deep overall insight into the industry gives it a stronger foundation than most, but it feels wrong to blend official data with projections.
However, I can also see how publishers like Nintendo holding back data massively affects the results anyway, so I’m not sure what the best solution is here.
Either way, we can say with certainty that Saros’ debut in ninth is a little soft, and this does account for official physical and digital sales. It’s not terrible, but the chart is ranked by revenue so that’s certainly in its favour, as a $70 game. It also runs until 2nd May, so does include a few days after launch.
We know Alinea has estimated sales in the region of 300k worldwide; I’m not sure whether this chart placement aligns with that, but I’d expect this game to be quite heavily frontloaded, so I’d be surprised if it appears in May’s charts.
Starfield did one better in eighth position following its PS5 release, jumping over 200 places compared to last month. That’s probably a more positive result considering the game’s overall age and its weak word of mouth.
As you’d expect, the PS5 was outsold by the Switch 2 in both units and revenue metrics, with the price increases really starting to take hold now.
Despite a difficult generation for Sony, though, it’s still 2% ahead of the PS4 launch aligned, which is a remarkable result given its price and the various economic challenges it’s had to overcome.
USA Software Sales Top 10: April 2026
- Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream*
- Pragmata^
- Crimson Desert*
- MLB The Show 26*^
- Windrose*
- Pokemon Pokopia*
- Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2*
- Starfield^
- Saros^
- Mario Kart World*
USA Software Sales Top 10: 2026 Year-to-Date
- Resident Evil: Requiem^
- Crimson Desert*
- MLB The Show 26*^
- Pokemon Pokopia*
- WWE 2K26^
- NBA 2K26^
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7^
- Arc Raiders*
- Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream*
- Minecraft*^
* Projected digital sales
^ Actual digital sales
