France Fines Nintendo 35 Million Euros Over Joy-Con Stick Drift

This is approximately 46 million US dollars at the current exchange rate.

Nintendo is facing serious consequences from the long-standing scandal surrounding the Joy-Con controllers for the original Nintendo Switch. The French consumer protection agency has fined the Japanese company 35 million euros (approximately 46 million dollars) for insufficient communication to buyers about the widely known stick drift issue.

Stick drift has become one of the most discussed malfunctions of the Nintendo Switch console. Due to component wear, controllers would begin to register stick movement even when the user was not touching it. This significantly affected gameplay and often forced owners to buy new controllers, which are considered quite expensive accessories.

The investigation by French regulators concluded that Nintendo did not provide consumers with full information about the malfunctions affecting some Joy-Con models. According to the agency, the company was aware of the defect but for a long time did not publicly acknowledge the problem. Only after complaints from European consumer protection organizations and the filing of a class-action lawsuit did Nintendo officially respond to the situation.

The French agency believes that the lack of transparency may have prevented many users from taking advantage of free controller repairs. Instead, console owners often purchased new Joy-Cons after the malfunction appeared.

Nintendo rejected accusations of misleading consumers and called the fine payment a "peaceful settlement of the lawsuit." Previously, the company stated that the controllers of the updated OLED version of the Switch had an improved design, but reports of stick drift continued to emerge even after the release of this model.