Years after lawsuits were filed against Nintendo for drifting Joy-Con controllers, 2 class action complaints are reportedly set to be dismissed

The two cases were filed in 2019 and 2020

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After several years, two lawsuits brought against Nintendo over Joy-Con drift issues are reportedly set to come to a close, after both Nintendo and the individuals who filed the class action complaints allegedly called for their dismissal.

‘Joy-Con drift’ refers to a fault sometimes found in the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con controllers, which sees the control sticks start responding to inputs incorrectly. Sometimes, inputs might be detected when players aren’t touching the sticks at all, while other times, the controller’s input might get stuck in a direction for longer than it should, or the sticks might not register movements accurately at all. While it doesn’t occur ineveryJoy-Con, there’s no doubt that it’s frustrating when it does, especially given that new sets of Joy-Con controllers don’t come cheap.

As Game File’s Stephen Totiloreports, the class action complaintDiaz vs. Nintendo, which was filed in 2019, andCarbajal vs. Nintendo, which was filed in 2020, both initially alleged that Nintendo had conducted “unfair, deceptive, and/or fraudulent business practices,” which caused the plaintiffs and other Switch owners to suffer “an unascertainable loss”.

NEW - 5 years of efforts to sue Nintendo over Joy-Con drift have all but ended with a whimperPlaintiffs (parents/kids) and defendant (Nintendo) in the 2 main class action claims in the U.S., filed in 2019/20, agreed last week to call for their dismissal https://t.co/dTLhP7Wzci pic.twitter.com/DEJM76F9y9May 13, 2024

Now though, Totilo writes that both Nintendo and plaintiffs Diaz and Carbajal have called for their respective cases to be dismissed. On the cases' CourtListener pages (which you canfind hereandhere), the most recent changes made on May 13 both state: “Terminate Civil Case.” It’s not clear at this time why this has suddenly happened with both cases.

Lawsuits aside, if youdohappen to experience any Joy-Con drift issues, you might still be able to get it sorted out at no extra cost. Last year, Nintendo confirmed that in the UK, Switzerland, and European Economic Area countries, it willrepair drifting Joy-Con controllers even out of warranty for free for the foreseeable future. At the time, the company noted: “Nintendo takes great pride in creating high-quality and durable products and is continuously making improvements to them.”

If you’re looking for more games to play, be sure to check out our roundup of thebest Nintendo Switch games.

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I’m one of GamesRadar+’s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield’s student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming’s news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you’re sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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