Nintendo has been fixing Switch players’ Joy-Con “drift” problems for free, even if they are no longer under warranty, in North America since 2019. In recent years, it has launched the same program in France and Latin America. Now, the gaming giant has expanded your free and unlimited repair service for drifting Joy-Cons in the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK and Switzerland “until further notice”. In their UK website (first seen by nintendo life), the company said it is offering repairs in those areas “for joystick-related response syndrome.” In addition, it will fix the known problem of users even if it is “caused by wear”.
Switch players in Europe are already pretty well protected with a warranty that lasts 24 months instead of just 12. When the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) urged an investigation into the Joy-Con drift issue in 2021, It said that 88 percent of the 25,000 complaints it received were from people whose drivers showed symptoms of the problem in the first two years. That means the standard warranty in Europe could cover repairs for most people. But now gamers can make Nintendo fix your drivers for freeeven after your warranty expires.
While the BEUC called this development a “tangible gain for consumers”, he also believes that it is a “short-term fix”. In the end, Nintendo will still be able to sell a product with a known defect that leads to early failure, the group said, and that’s something it hopes will be banned in Europe.
Joy-Con drift, characterized by the Switch sensing motion despite the player not touching the controllers’ analog sticks, has been a constant source of frustration for gamers for a long time. Nintendo has had to face lawsuits accusing it of selling Joy-Con knowing they are “defective.” And while company president Shuntaro Furukawa acknowledged the issue and apologized for it in 2020, it remains a problem that plagues fans to this day.
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