The Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Is Drifting Into a Class-Action Lawsuit

A law firm based in the United States recently filed a class-action lawsuit against Nintendo concerning the Switch's Joy-Con drift problem. Wait, let's try that again in a tone more befitting of a U.S. class-action lawsuit: "If you or someone you love has been negatively impacted by Nintendo's negligent 'Joy-Con drift,' you may be entitled to compensation!" There, that's better.

The lawsuit is being handled by the offices of Chimicles, Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith. A PDF of the suit is available on the law firm's website, but to put things succinctly, "the complaint alleges that the joystick on the Joy-Con controllers will automatically register movement when the joystick is not being controlled by the user and interfere with gameplay." You can sign up to be part of the suit if you live in the United States.

Joy-Con drift is a hot topic again thanks to the recent news about new Joy-Con colors coming soon. (Coupled with no word from Nintendo if it plans to fix the problem one and for all.) My own launch Switch is a victim, seemingly in both the left and right Joy-Cons. The camera and on-screen characters alike move of their own accord even when I'm not touching any inputs. Brand-new Joy-Cons can go rogue in a few months even if they're handled carefully. Since a set of Joy-Cons can set you back $79.99 USD, people aren't happy about their seeming fragility.

When we reached out to Nintendo via email about the issue of Joy-Con drift, a representative told us, "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."