Because of the infamous Joy-Con drift, Nintendo has to pay a fine worth millions.
The annoying Joy-Con drift problem on the Nintendo Switch, in which the controllers register inputs by themselves, has been bothering players for years. Now this persistent hardware weakness is having serious financial consequences for the company for the first time. A French consumer protection agency has made Nintendo one Fine of 35 million euros sentenced.
Joy-Con drift: Nintendo has to pay in France
The General Directorate of Competition, Consumer Protection and Anti-Fraud (DGCCRF) accuses the company of “misleading commercial practices”. Nintendo reacted far too slowly to the known defect and left customers in the dark.
As a result, they would have Many affected people bought new controllersinstead of contacting support for a repair. Nintendo has now accepted the verdict (source: DGCCRF).
Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con drift plagues many users
Stick drift has been a source of frustration for Switch owners almost since the console went on sale in 2017. Wear and tear on the analog sticks leads to unwanted input, which makes many games imprecise or even unplayable. There have been several class action lawsuits in the past, particularly in the USA.
However, these were often unsuccessful for the plaintiffs because Nintendo was often able to rely on the end user license agreement, which the buyers must agree to. The high fine from France is therefore a significant success for consumer protection could send a signal to other countries have.
The hope of many fans that the problem with the Switch 2 will finally be a thing of the past has not been completely fulfilled. Nintendo also forgoes better technologies such as Hall effect sensors in the new Joy-Cons and instead says it has only strengthened vulnerable components. Whether this measure is sufficient to better curb stick drift in the long term remains to be seen in the coming months and years.