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In response to widespread reports of “Joy-Con drift” – an issue where the analogue sticks on the Nintendo Switch’s detachable controllers “drift” across the screen without input from the player – Nintendo has reportedly informed its customer support representatives the company will repair malfunctioning controllers “at no charge” to customers.
In internal correspondence acquired by Vice Games “by a source familiar with Nintendo’s updated customer support documentation”, Nintendo has instructed support reps that regardless of whether the customer has proof of purchase or a valid warranty, repairs should be offered for free should the player be unsuccessful in mitigating the issue via troubleshooting. The company has also pledged to refund any players who have previously had to pay to repair their Joy-Cons for the same issue.
“Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs,” the internal customer service details said. “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.”
In a formal statement to the press, Nintendo said: “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.”
Nintendo recently announced the Nintendo Switch Lite, a new iteration of its handheld console. The new system – which will be available in yellow, grey, and turquoise – will go on sale from September 20, 2019.
In line with recent rumours that Nintendo has two new Switch models in production, the Nintendo Switch Lite will be smaller than the original version. It will reportedly not include a stand nor a dock, so unlike the current model it will not support video output to TV, but it will support “all games in the robust Nintendo Switch library that support handheld mode, although some games will have restrictions”. It’s also confirmed that, as rumoured, the new version will retail for around $200USD.
