Nintendo has now revealed that they will continue to repair Joy-Cons for free in European countries indefinitely. (UPDATE BELOW)
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Nintendo of Europe has outlined their new policy in a new page on the Nintendo Support site.
This is what their policy is on the Joy-Con support page:
“Until further notice, Nintendo will not charge you in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland for the repair of the responsiveness syndrome irrespective of whether this is caused by a defect or by wear and tear.*”
To keep it short, the EEA comprises member states of the European Free Trade Association, which is the EU plus a few other countries. Nintendo’s carefully worded statement essentially encompasses all the countries in Europe.
You may note the asterisk at the end of that statement. That’s because Nintendo still has some limitations on their free Joy-Con repair offer. They can still reject your repair request if:
- You used accessories with the Joy-Con that aren’t made by Nintendo. These could be Joy-Con covers or grips, for example.
- The controller was used for rentals.
- If you or someone else broke the controller itself in some way or form, instead of the longstanding issue of Joy-Cons unreasonably breaking down after a comparatively short period of use.
- The controller was already worked on by someone that was not Nintendo or their partner, unless it can be proven that other party didn’t break the controller in some way.
If you are wondering why Nintendo could still add these conditions to their free repair, here’s the thing; they don’t actually have to keep offering this free repair.
The class action lawsuit filed in California over Joy-Con drift was dismissed last February. While this isn’t the only lawsuit filed in the US in relation to Joy-Con drift, it has set a precedent that will affect those other lawsuits moving forward.
Thus far, Nintendo hasn’t seen any official lawsuits from the EU, the UK, or any other European countries, regions, or organizations. The EU seems to be investigating the matter, but their investigation would have also been affected by the outcome of that dismissed lawsuit.
Nintendo seems to have mostly covered their bases when it comes to this issue. Fans do continue to buy Nintendo Switch consoles, and Switch Pro controllers, knowing the issue exists on those products as well. Nintendo also offers free repairs of Joy-Cons in the US aside from Europe.
Some enthusiasts go out of their way to get their Switch consoles and controllers modified by replacing those drifting joy-sticks with magnetic hall sensor joysticks. While that can fix the problem for those gamers, it certainly seems like Nintendo should be offering a solution like it themselves. At the very least, we hope the Nintendo Switch successor won’t be repeating this concern anymore.
UPDATE: The European Commission has revealed that they instructed Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo UK to continue to offer free repairs for Joy-Cons on both Twitter, as well as on their fediverse instance. While this isn’t exactly a legally binding requirement, Nintendo is of course following the EU’s instructions as a sign of cooperation with the organization. Working with the EU allows them to keep doing business in the EU business region.
You can read the text of their message below:
“Missed your jump over the mushroom?
Splatted next to your target?
Drifted your kart outside the track?
This shall happen no more!
We contacted Nintendo to address the recurring problem with defective Switch controllers and they agreed to offer all consumers the right to repair, free of charge, even beyond the legal guarantee!
This will prevent the disposal of unrepaired controllers and unnecessary waste.”
