The European Union’s joint consumer program called for an investigation into the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con problem after receiving almost 25,000 complaints from across the continent. The deviation occurs when the Joy-Cons do not communicate properly with the console or when they start recording entries by themselves, such as a character moving without a player touching a thumbstick.
The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) said 88% of respondents across the EU said their Joy-Cons broke in the first two years of use. The body filed complaints to the European Commission (EU executive arm) and national consumer protection agencies, claiming that “Nintendo continues to sell products that fail prematurely, which is harming consumers and the environment.”
BEUC urged Nintendo to tell users that controllers, as things stand, have a “limited lifespan” and that they fix them for free. The company has repaired Joy-Cons in the past at no cost to consumers.
The Joy-Con bypass problem has been widely publicized since the Switch arrived almost four years ago. Nintendo faced several class action lawsuits on the subject and Engadget readers signaled problems with the controllers. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa apologized last June for “any inconvenience caused to our customers in relation to Joy-Con” without explicitly mentioning the drift.