Rumor: Nintendo is considering a more compact Switch

Nintendo is rumored to have plans to release a smaller version of the Switch console. The planned console should be cheaper and have fewer features to make it clear that the device is more mobile-oriented, according to the reports.

The more compact Switch should appear this year. It is not known which features the Switch has in addition to the claim that it is smaller. The rumor comes from the Japanese newspaper Nikkei. Gematsu reports on the rumor published in Japanese. The plans for a smaller and cheaper Switch, according to Nikkei, are related to Nintendo’s lowered expectations of Switch deliveries.

The Japanese game company announced on Thursday that it expects to ship not twenty but seventeen million Switch consoles from April last year to April this year. That number currently stands at 14.49 million units. Nintendo announced earlier this month that it has no “successor” to the Switch in the works and is not “fixed” on the release of new consoles.

According to Nikkei, Nintendo wants to further expand its paid Nintendo Switch Online service. A more expensive service should appear this year, but the details of the offer are unknown. Switch Online was released last September and offers the possibility to save game saves online and play classic NES games.