Nintendo Faces Complaint Over ‘Joy-Con Drift’ on Switch Console

(Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co. faces a complaint from a European consumer group over what it calls “systematic problems” with the controllers for the company’s popular Switch games console.

European consumer protection organization BEUC said it filed a complaint with the European Union and national consumer protection organizations after evidence from users showed that in 88% of cases, “the game controllers broke within the first two years.”

The group said some 25,000 gamers and other consumers across Europe, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, complained about a “recurring technical problem with Nintendo Switch controllers, commonly referred to as ‘Joy-Con Drift,’ according to a statement on Wednesday.

The problem causes a glitch where characters can move within games without any input from the user. The company was sued over the issue in the U.S. in 2019.

A Nintendo spokesperson had no immediate comment.

The consumer groups seek a Europe-wide investigation into the problems, seeking an order for Nintendo to address “the premature failures of its product.” BEUC said until then, “faulty game controllers should be repaired for free and consumers should be properly informed.”

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