Nintendo agrees to €35M euro fine over faulty Switch controllers

Nintendo said Monday that it would pay a fine of 35 million euros ($40 million) to settle a French claim over faulty controllers on its Switch consoles.

A French consumer advocacy group filed the claim alleging "planned obsolescence" in 2020, saying the Japanese giant knew some controllers were failing too quickly.

It noted thousands of complaints by customers about "Joy-Con drift", with toggles stuck in one direction on the original version of the Switch, even when users were not touching them.

France's consumer protection agency, DGCCRF, determined that Nintendo Europe had not sufficiently informed consumers of the recurring problem despite the console being sold for years since its 2017 launch.

Its report said Nintendo had "commented only in 2020, and not as soon as it was aware of the malfunctions", the Commerce Ministry and the court in Nanterre, outside Paris, said in a statement.

It added that Nintendo's statements on the problem were "patchy", and as a result many customers simply bought new controllers, instead of pursuing a free fix or replacement via customer service.

Nintendo promised in 2023 that it would repair or replace faulty controllers without cost, even if no longer covered by warranty.