More than three years after the console's release, and a year after the start of a class-action lawsuit, Nintendo has finally apologized for Joy-Con drift.
It's hard to argue against the success of the Nintendo Switch. At last count, the innovative console had sold more than 55 million units, and is breathing down the neck of the NES's sales. However, despite its success, the Switch has had a major issue that refuses to go away. One that has allegedly affected more Switch owners than Nintendo cares to acknowledge.
That issue is Joy-Con drift. It's exactly what it sounds like. That the analog sticks on the console's controllers react even when they aren't being touched. Although there are reports of users' consoles suffering from the issue throughout the duration of the Switch's lifetime, the problem had a spotlight thrown on it when a class-action lawsuit was filed in the US in 2019.
Despite multiple reports of Joy-Con drift's existence and the aforementioned lawsuit, Nintendo has failed to issue any sort of apology or admit fault. That's despite it offering Joy-Con repair for free shortly after the lawsuit was filed, and offering refunds to anyone who had paid for the privilege before that. However, during a recent Q&A, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa finally apologized.
"We apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers regarding Joy-Con controllers," Furukawa said during the Q&A. The president was reluctant to say anything more, citing that he was unable to discuss what fixes Nintendo is or isn't working on in regard to the problem due to the ongoing lawsuit in the US. Nice to hear an apology from someone in a position of power at Nintendo, but probably little solace to anyone still tackling Joy-Con drift.
Even the Switch Lite has been added to the lawsuit shortly after it was released in September 2019. That suggests not only does Nintendo not know how to fix the problem, but it still hasn't been able to figure out what's causing it. There have also been reports of consoles having the issue "fixed" only for it to return months later. Since Switch sales are still going strong, it will likely take the result of the lawsuit to force Nintendo's hand in any sort of meaningful way.
Source: Video Games Chronicle