Nintendo has announced that it will pay a fine of 35 million euros to settle a lawsuit over defective controllers. The claim was filed by a French consumer organization and concerns controllers for the Switch game console that allegedly break too quickly.
Source: ANP
The organization received thousands of complaints about controller joysticks that stick, even when they are no longer operated. The problem was known since the console came on the market in 2017, but Nintendo only released communication about the problem in 2020.
The consumer organization stated that Nintendo was already aware of this and therefore did not sufficiently inform European consumers. The explanations about the problem were also said to be “patchy”, causing customers to buy new controllers instead of requesting a free repair or replacement.
Nintendo promised as early as 2023 that it would repair or replace defective controllers free of charge, even if the warranty has expired.