Nintendo will issue stick drift Joy-Con repairs for free

After swathes of users reported having the issue, it seems Nintendo's policy has changed regarding how they approach it.

In recent weeks there has been increased outrage from the Nintendo Switch community around stick drift, with the console's Joy-Con sticks becoming misaligned and moving one way after mere months of usage, as reported by Kotaku. What's worse is that these customers are being asked to pay for shipping to fix the fault, which may have prompted a change in Nintendo's policy.

According to an internal memo allegedly obtained by Vice, Nintendo will now be offering less barriers to getting Joy-Cons fixed, as you can read in the following paragraph:

"Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs. Additionally it is not necessary to confirm warranty status. If a customer requests a refund for a previously paid Joy-Con repair [...] confirm the prior repair and then issue a refund."

This reportedly came from a source familiar with Nintendo's customer support, and the following official response was subsequently provided:

"At Nintendo, we take great pride in creating quality products and we are continuously making improvements to them. We are aware of recent reports that some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly. We want our consumers to have fun with Nintendo Switch, and if anything falls short of this goal we always encourage them to visit https://support.nintendo.com so we can help."

According to Vice, this memo also outlines troubleshooting steps to guide the customer through, and if that doesn't work then repairs should happen for free. What's more is that those who have paid for Joy-Con repairs can also be issued a refund.

In the documents Nintendo also says they have "nothing to announce" about the class action lawsuit regarding stick drift filed on Friday, and whether or not this could be an issue on the Switch Lite, just revealed this month.

When Vice tested this procedure, Nintendo offered a pre-paid shipping label after the issue persisted with a Joy-Con following troubleshooting, so it seems an easy process.

Have you experienced stick drift?