The French Hammer of Justice Falls on Nintendo Over Drifting Switch Joycons

Every user experience is unique until a Nintendo Switch is placed into your hands and, a short time later, you join the club of those who have experienced Joy-Con drift. Jokes aside, it is no secret that the controllers for the first version of Nintendo’s hybrid console have suffered from immense drift issues over the years – and it seems the French authorities are not happy about it.

Even though Nintendo is already moving into a new era with the acclaimed Nintendo Switch 2, France has just slapped the company with a fine following a national investigation regarding the persistent joystick issues on the original model.

Deceptive Practices, Says France

According to reports shared by French newspaper Le Monde, a penalty was officially issued by the country's consumer protection authorities, the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), which deemed Nintendo’s handling of the hardware flaws over the years entirely inadequate.

The French defense argues that Nintendo had clear knowledge of the defects as early as 2018, and, despite this awareness, concrete measures to address the problem only began to surface around 2020, two years after its original launch. That way, they classify Nintendo’s conduct regarding the Joy-Con drift as a deceptive commercial practice.

Also, regulatory bodies from France concluded that there was a severe lack of transparency in communicating with consumers about the known defects present in certain models. They emphasized that the company’s passive stance actively discouraged consumers from seeking technical support, leading many users to simply purchase brand-new controllers instead of requesting free repairs.

As a result, Nintendo of Europe has just received a €35 million fine from DGCCRF this Monday, June 8, after concluding that Nintendo "did not fairly inform consumers about the malfunctions affecting certain controllers." Just to show the full picture, this case literally represents one of the most significant punishments ever recorded for the Joy-Con controversy since Switch 1's launch.

Hardware Flaws & Future Preventions

For those unfamiliar with the flaw, “drift” basically occurs when the analog sticks register involuntary movements without any player input. In most cases, characters or in-game cameras keep moving on their own, heavily compromising the gameplay experience. And this headache has infamously followed the Nintendo Switch since its original launch back in 2017, around the world.

Nintendo has made minor internal design adjustments over the years, and the relationship between the company's current console, the Nintendo Switch 2, and joystick drift has improved significantly now. Rumors and technical teardowns of the new hardware suggest that the company implemented updated internal components specifically engineered to prevent mechanical wear, effectively shielding the newer console from the pervasive flaws that plagued its predecessor.

However, despite these modern engineering upgrades and expanded repair programs, the situation regarding the original hybrid console remains one of the most controversial hardware chapters in the Japanese company's recent history. And the ruling serves as a reminder of the long-term legal ramifications that tech companies face when hardware defects are left unaddressed for prolonged periods.

At the time of this publication, Nintendo has not publicly commented on the French ruling or indicated whether it intends to appeal the fine.