The total number of video games released in 2021 grew substantially compared to 2020, and the percentage of games that had a physical version continued to fall as the industry overall pushes further toward digital. This US-based data, and more key findings, comes from NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.

Posting on Twitter, Piscatella said the total number of video game releases in 2021 was up 64% compared to 2020, while the percentage of games that had a physical version fell below 10%. According to Piscatella's findings, the Switch's many digital exclusives "did the heavy lifting." The number of Switch games that did not have a physical version reached 980 in 2021 compared to 357 in 2020, Piscatella found.

Overall, the number of games that released physically in the US was "basically flat" in 2021, reaching 228, compared to 236 in 2020. Comparing to the peak of the previous generation of consoles, the number of games released physically in 2008 was 1,267, which shows just how much the industry has changed.