Which? has called upon Nintendo to offer a “no quibble” replacement or repair for Joy-Cons with analogue stick drift
(Picture: Nintendo)A investigation by consumer group Which? has found the common “stick drift” issue in Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers is caused by a design flaw.
Joy-Con drift is where the on-screen reticule controlled by the analogue sticks starts to move on its own.
Which? sent five pairs of faulty Joy-Cons to a “specialist lab” for analysis and found the problem is the result of a “mechanical issue” that points to a flawed design.
The internal structure of the Joy-Con is not resistant enough to dust ingress. This, alongside general mechanical wear in a contact point used to see when the analogue stick is moved, creates the issue.
Which? has called upon Nintendo to offer a “no quibble” replacement or repair for Joy-Cons with analogue stick drift, even those from back in 2017 when the Nintendo Switch launched. And, furthermore, it suggests Nintendo should compensate those who can prove they bought a replacement Joy-Con set due to this stick-drift problem.
Nintendo’s own advice is to contact the company’s support line. In a statement to Which?, Nintendo said it seeks to, “openly and leniently resolve any consumer issues related to the Joy-Con controllers’ analogue sticks, including in cases where the warranty may no longer apply”.
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) in 2021 raised the same issue, claiming it had received more than 25,000 complaints about Nintendo Switch analogue stick drift.
The issue is made more glaring thanks to the rather high cost of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers. They cost £59.99 a pair, more than a quarter the cost of a Nintendo Switch Lite, the cheapest version of Nintendo’s console.
The Nintendo Switch has sold more than 117 million units to date, a large user group for possible Joy-Con issues. Nintendo has also faced multiple class action lawsuits over Joy-Con drift, as far back as mid-2019.
