Nintendo Switch Lite Added To ‘Drift’ Defect Class Action

Mere days after Nintendo released the new Switch Lite, the game system was added to a class action lawsuit over claims that the controllers possess a defect that causes them to “drift” while being used.

Game players say the drift defect makes the devices almost impossible to use.

The Nintendo game controllers class action lawsuit claims that customers made numerous complaints online about the difficulties that they discovered with the game controllers. Allegedly, the Switch Lite in particular began drifting mere hours after initial use.

According to one user cited in the Nintendo Switch class action lawsuit, the Switch Lite’s drifting problem caused the controller to move even if the user was not touching it. 

The Nintendo Switch class action lawsuit was filed in June by Ryan Diaz who says that he purchased a Nintendo Switch console and an extra pair of Joy-Con controllers in 2017.

According to Diaz, one of his Joy-Con controllers began to be plagued with the “drift” problem, meaning that the controller registered movement and moved the camera, even when the controller was not being controlled by the user.

The Nintendo Switch class action lawsuit now involves all Nintendo Switch game systems, including the Nintendo Switch, the standalone Joy-Con controllers, and the new Nintendo Switch Lite.

Allegedly, there were problems associated with the gaming system as early as 2017, when the device was released.

The Nintendo Switch class action lawsuit says that Nintendo’s Switch General Producer falsely advertises the Switch controllers as “amazing controllers [that] combine all the gameplay innovations that Nintendo invented, and adds to it,” going on to say that “each joy-con [controller] can be used as a fully-functioning, individual controller.”

According to the users who filed the Nintendo class action lawsuit, they conducted analysis on the nature of the deficit. Allegedly, as the joystick is moved back and forth, the steel brushes on the inside of the joysticks rubbing away the soft carbon material that makes up the pad. The users explain that “the removed material changes the electrical resistance of the pads and potentially leads to drifting.”

The Nintendo Switch class action lawsuit says that Nintendo knew about the defect, and did not tell customers about it. Additionally, the Nintendo class action lawsuit says that the company often will not repair the joysticks without charging customers, and when it does offer a repair, the problem is not sufficiently eliminated, and re-manifests.

Have you experienced problems with any of the Nintendo Switch products? Tell us your story in the comments below.

The Nintendo users are represented by Kim D. Stephens, Jason T. Dennett, and Kaleigh N.B. Powell of Tousley Brain Stephens PLLC; and by Benjamin F. Johns, Andrew W. Ferich, and Alex M. Kashurba of Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP.

The Nintendo Switch Drift Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Ryan Diaz, et al. v. Nintendo of America Inc., Case No. 2:19-cv-01116-TSZ, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.

UPDATE: On Dec. 2, 2019, Nintendo Switch owners are fighting a bid to send their joystick defect class action lawsuit to arbitration, arguing that the arbitration clause doesn’t apply in this situation.

UPDATE 2: On March 2, 2020, a federal judge in Washington rejected Nintendo’s request to have a Nintendo Switch console defect class action lawsuit dismissed.

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