A new European regulation will make a huge change in how many gamers game in the near future.
As reported by Overkill, the EU regulation revolves around batteries and waste batteries, and affects all devices that use batteries, including phones, tablets, cameras, watches, but most importantly for us, dedicated gaming devices, like the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and more.
The regulation adds many rules for the tech industry to follow. For example, the industry has to collect used batteries from their own devices, and are required to reuse some of those elements on new batteries.
The biggest change the EU is forcing onto manufacturers is the need to make those batteries replaceable.
Now, it should be noted that the rules do not necessarily require that batteries are easily replaceable. Some gaming devices in the past, such as the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Portable, or early Samsung Galaxy phones, have easily removeable batteries, when you remove the casing or battery cover. Today, however it’s become more common for such devices to be designed in such a way that consumers can’t easily open their own devices.
While some consumers have argued that this takes away some of their rights to the devices, the reason for this change is for the devices to be made more compact, have better heat management, and are essentially more durable and will have more longevity.
The EU does seem to be mindful of all this. So let’s review the finer details of this regulation. The EU says that these devices need to be “readily removable and replaceable by the end-user at any time during the lifetime of the product”.
The regulation further states that “a portable battery shall be considered readily removable by the end-user where it can be removed from a product with the use of commercially available tools, without requiring the use of specialized tools, unless provided free of charge with the product”.
So what does that mean? It could mean that Nintendo will no longer be allowed to use their tri-wing screws to keep their devices together.
However, it also doesn’t mean the batteries have to be easily removed by hand. It could mean that these devices need to come with the screwdrivers and/or spudgers bundled in with the devices.
The EU will give companies and industries time to adjust, so the rule won’t be mandatory until 2027. That means these changes will be applied to future consoles and handhelds. That includes future portable game consoles that Nintendo makes after the Switch, as well as future handhelds from Valve, ASUS, and others.
But, that could be delayed even further, as these rules will likely face opposition from those companies, more likely from Apple.
If you own a Switch or a Steam Deck, or more likely, a tablet or a smartphone, this will all likely be welcome news, but we don’t know quite yet if the companies will oppose this regulation, and hereby delay or even try to cancel it. But this will be a really easy way to extend the lifetime of our future devices.
