Nintendo Faces Class Action Lawsuit Due To Switch’s Joy-Con Drift Issues

Nintendo might be flying high with with hardware sales for the Switch right now, but the console-handheld hybrid does have its own issues as well, one of which seems to have become quite widespread. That issue has to do with the system’s Joy-Cons- more specifically, the Joy-Con analog sticks.

Many of you may have experienced this already – either first-hand, or heard about it from someone else – but for those not aware, Joy-Con drift refers to an issue where the controller reads an input for the thumbstick slowly being moved in a direction, even when it isn’t. You can imagine how that would impede gameplay in any game. It’s an issue that Nintendo does fix if you send in your Switch, but that requires shipping charges (in most cases), while replacing your current Joy-Con with new ones isn’t a cheap alternative either.

Well, it seems like the law firm Chimicles, Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith is looking into the problem in a more official manner, and has filed a class-action lawsuit against Nintendo. They claim that “joysticks on Joy-Con controllers are defective, leading users to experience drift issues”, and says that Nintendo “routinely refuses to repair the joysticks without charge when the defect manifests” and that it “never disclosed this material defect to consumers.” The complaint also accuses Nintendo of “unfair, deceptive, and/or fraudulent business practices”.

If nothing else, we can at least hope that forces Nintendo to make sure these issues do not resurface in the upcoming Nintendo Switch Lite, or even the upcoming revision for the main Switch model. Stay tuned to GamingBolt, and we’ll keep you updated on any developments in this story.