Tomodachi Life tops 8 million and outsells Nintendo's loudest 2026 releases

Nintendo has sold more than 8 million copies of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream since its April 16 launch on the original Switch, the company said as of August 5. ¹ The quarter ending in June alone accounted for roughly 7.94 million to 7.96 million units, depending on the outlet. ¹²

The split is worth a look. Nintendo put Japan at 2.55 million units and the rest of the world at 5.39 million. ¹² The first game in the series was a Japan-only release on the DS, so the overseas share is the new part of the story. ²

The game is now the best-selling entry in the series. Its 3DS predecessor finished at 6.73 million copies worldwide, and the DS original sold 3.2 million. ²

Newzoo’s September rankings put a revenue figure on the hit. The firm ranks Tomodachi Life as the third-biggest new release of 2026 from January through September across six major Western markets: the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain. ³ In those markets it has out-earned Resident Evil Requiem, Pokémon Pokopia, Crimson Desert and Forza Horizon 6. ³ It sat at number one a month earlier and was pushed to third by the new FC and NBA sports titles. ³

Meanwhile, Nintendo’s marketing is leaning on it. A new Nintendo UK ad, “Back to Me,” follows a dumped student who plays Ocarina of Time on a train, then makes a Mii of his dad in Tomodachi Life and chats with his sister over GameChat. ³⁴ Tomodachi Life has no Switch 2 Edition, and the ad uses it to make a different point: Switch games run on Switch 2 too. ³ Nintendo said as much in its own words, noting that many people are taking advantage of that feature. ¹

The reason the Switch 1 title gets the spotlight is arithmetic. The original Switch is the second-best-selling console of all time and still has a far larger audience than the Switch 2. ³ A game that sells to that base, and that spreads through funny clips online, does not need new hardware. ³

Nintendo also said the game is being enjoyed by people of all ages, regardless of gender. ¹² Polygon suggests that its appeal to women and girls may explain why its success has been underreported. ³

Reviews were solid rather than glowing. The game holds a Metacritic score of 77, and reviewers praised the humor while warning that it gets repetitive after a few weeks. ¹²

The outlook: Nintendo’s next earnings report will show whether a quiet-looking Switch 1 release keeps adding to a total that is already larger than any earlier game in the series.

Our read: The year’s biggest Nintendo story is not a flagship. It is a comedy sim on aging hardware, marketed through an ad that is nominally about something else. Nintendo’s own words, “evergreen titles” and “installed base,” read like a plan, not an accident. ¹ The company can sell Switch 2 with a Zelda remake and still lean on the Switch 1 audience. The sales table says that audience is paying.

Footnotes

1. Nintendo Life, “Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream Has Already Sold Over 8 Million Units”. Retrieved October 31, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. VGC, “Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has already outsold its 3DS predecessor, Nintendo says”. Retrieved October 31, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. Polygon, “Nintendo’s Biggest Game of the Year Isn’t What You Think It Is”. Retrieved October 31, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

4. Nintendo Life, “Nintendo’s New Switch 2 Ad Is As Wholesome As They Come”. Retrieved October 31, 2026. ↩