Nintendo offers free repairs for Joy-Con drift in the UK
Nintendo has announced that it will issue free repairs for Joy-Con drifting in the UK and European Economic Area (EEA), with the policy set to continue “until further notice”.
In an update to Nintendo’s support page (via Nintendo Life), the company has confirmed that it will no longer charge for repairs involving Joy-Con drift — an issue that causes the Nintendo Switch controllers to move cursors and in-game cameras without any input from players.
“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,” the company announced.
This offer will apply even if affected users’ two-year warranty has expired, and will also repair them if the problem was caused by wear and tear.
However, the support page also warned that it will not repair controllers that have been affected due to accidental damage, or Joy-Cons that have been “opened, modified or repaired” by a third party.
Anyone dealing with Joy-Con drift can book a repair here.
The stance comes a year after UK consumer group Which? found that 40 per cent of Switch Classic owners reported dealing with Joy-Con drift. Within that number, a further 57 per cent said that they experienced Joy-Con drift within a year of getting their Switch.
While an internal memo at the company told repair centres to offer free repairs regardless of warranty status, 19 per cent of surveyed Switch owners reported not being offered this.
Back in 2020, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa apologised “for any trouble caused” by the company’s Joy-Cons.
In other news, last week Nintendo shared 13 minutes of gameplay from The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, which launches on the Switch next month.
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Andy Brown
NME
