Joy-Con drift was a frustrating problem for countless Switch users, and a costly one for Nintendo, which faced multiple lawsuits and had to cover free repairs. The Japanese company claimed to be addressing the issue when developing the Switch 2, but a recent video from a disappointed player has reignited worry amongst the gaming community.
Curious and cautious, some early buyers cracked open their Joy-Con 2s to inspect the internals themselves, only to discover that little had been done to fix the root cause of the infamous hassle. But the conversation really took off after a Reddit user uploaded a clip showing his controller misbehaving right out of the box.
“I got my Switch 2 from Walmart on Thursday but was unable to use it until Friday. The left Joy-Con felt a little cattywampus, but I still was able to play Mario Kart World. Today, the stick felt worse when pushing right. I guess I already had stick drift or something. Tried to recalibrate it in the Switch Settings, and it showed the joystick all messed up. Called Nintendo and now have to send it in for repair. My luck in a nutshell,” he wrote.
Some fans believe this could be an isolated defect rather than a widespread issue like with the original Switch. Others claim the user might be misinterpreting the situation, suggesting it relates to dead zones and can be corrected through manual calibration, although the underlying cause may still be a production flaw.
Nintendo will offer free Joy-Con 2 repairs
Drift typically happens when the joystick’s internal components wear down, especially the mechanical sensors that detect movement. Once they start to fail, your character might start moving in-game even if you’re not touching the stick.
Fans were hoping Nintendo would put this matter to rest with Hall effect sensors, which detect motion magnetically, eliminating contact between moving parts and avoiding this problem entirely. But the company chose not to install this technology and instead made other refinements to supposedly increase durability, something that they might soon regret.
With signs of drift already surfacing and Joy-Con 2s notably absent from the repairs pricing list, it seems the company is bracing for yet another round of free fixes.