⁍ Nintendo Switch Online gives users the option to play friends, save game progress online and access classic titles.

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⁍ More than 26 million users as of September, compared with 15 million in January.

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⁍ The rise is driven by the popularity of hit titles like ‘Animal Crossing

– Nintendo says it has more than 26 million users of its Switch Online service, which offers users the option to save game progress online and play classic titles like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as of September. That’s up from 15 million users in January, Reuters reports. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa says the growth is due to the popularity of hit titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which has sold more than 22 million copies. The company also plans to launch a Mario Kart toy that can be controlled by the Switch in October. Nintendo has been slow to grow such services and is yet to move into cloud gaming, instead focusing on the portable Switch device, which has been on a tear this year from consumers looking for escapism amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Stuck-at-home gamers helped push up digital downloads to more than half of Switch software sales in the quarter ended June. That trend is being tempered by the reopening of retailers, Furukawa says. Sony and Microsoft on Tuesday launched a cloud gaming service for playing Xbox titles on Android devices to extend the life of their consoles. Rivals Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp, which on Tuesday launched a cloud gaming service for playing Xbox titles on Android devices, have been targeting subscription services to extend the life of their consoles. Nintendo has been slow to grow such services and is yet to move into cloud gaming, instead focusing on the portable Switch device, which has been on a tear this year from consumers looking for escapism amid the COVID-19 pandemic.