France's consumer protection regulator (DGCCRF) has fined Nintendo of Europe €35 million for allegedly concealing information about a widespread defect in Joy-Con controllers for the Switch console. The Japanese company accepted the penalty but firmly denied accusations of intentionally misleading consumers.

The issue at hand is well-known among gamers: "Joy-Con drift" – a phenomenon where analog sticks register movement without physical input. According to the regulator, Nintendo became aware of the defect as early as 2018 but publicly acknowledged it only two years later, following a complaint from a French organization combating planned obsolescence. The company began offering free repairs for affected controllers only in 2023, after coordinated pressure from European oversight bodies.

The root cause lies in wear of analog modules and dust accumulation on sensors, leading to "phantom" or inverted character movements that make gameplay difficult or impossible. iFixit estimates that approximately 40% of Switch owners have experienced drift. The scale of the problem is underscored by hundreds of DIY repair guides on YouTube (some with millions of views) and thousands of controllers flowing into service centers weekly as early as 2022.

In response, Nintendo stated that "accepting the settlement terms does not constitute an admission of guilt and merely reflects a voluntary resolution of the dispute." The €35 million fine marks the second-largest penalty in DGCCRF history – surpassed only by the sanction against Shein in 2025.

Despite the defect, the Switch remains the best-selling gaming console of the past 25 years. The Nintendo Switch 2, released in June 2025, has not yet shown signs of stick drift; however, iFixit warns that the new controllers use a similar analog module design, meaning future immunity to such issues cannot be guaranteed.