Nintendo is Reportedly Fixing Joy-Con Drift for Free

Evidence is growing that Nintendo has a problem with something called Joy-Con Drift and it's driving some customers up a wall. However, it seems that the company has quietly acknowledged the issue and taken steps to remedy the problem without causing customers too much more hassle than they've already had to deal with it.

What is Joy-Con Drift?

"Joy-Con Drift" is an issue with the analog sticks on the Joy-Con controller for the Nintendo Switch. According to users who have experienced the issue, the Nintendo Switch will detect movement in one particular direction even when the analog stick is sitting neutral. Essentially, the controllers appear to be getting "stuck" in one direction, with no known reason or explanation.

No one in the public sphere seems to know for certain whether it's a hardware issue, software issue, or both. What is certain is that the issue appears to be pretty bad. Several users on the /r/NintendoSwitch subreddit stated that they've even had the problem re-emerge after sending their Joy-Cons into Nintendo for repair. The problem has gotten bad enough that people are moving towards filing a class-action lawsuit.

The Joy-Con Drift Memo

Vice reports that they've gotten their hands on an internal memo issued to customer service representatives at Nintendo. According to them, the memo instructs customer service representatives to no longer charge customers seeking repairs for issues with their Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers. Moreover, the memo states that customers who have already paid a repair fee ought to be refunded.

"Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs," the internal customer service details say. "Additionally it is not necessary to confirm warranty status. If a customer requests a refund for a previously paid Joy-Con repair [...] confirm the prior repair and then issue a refund."

On the public side of things, Nintendo re-issued a statement that's been doing the rounds at gaming publications:

"At Nintendo, we take great pride in creating quality products and we are continuously making improvements to them. We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly. We want our consumers to have fun with Nintendo Switch, and if anything falls short of this goal we always encourage them to visit http://support.nintendo.com so we can help." — Statement from Nintendo on Joy-Con Drift

Fixes for Joy-Con problems currently appear at the top of Nintendo's support page, as well, seemingly acknowledging the severity of the problem in a fashion.

• Joy-Con Troubleshooting
• Joy-Con Control Sticks Are Not Responding or Respond Incorrectly
• Joy-Con Repair Setup

The issue of Joy-Con drift appears to be spreading, but Nintendo seems to be doing a solid job of responding to the problem in fine fashion. If the standard troubleshooting procedures fail, the third link will take you to a form where you can file a Help Desk ticket to get your controllers repaired by Nintendo.

Have you encountered issues with Joy-Con drift? What do you think about how Nintendo is handling the problem? Let us know in the comments below!