Asked what the coordinated action might involve, the EC spokesman pointed to previous cases in which companies have been forced to change their practices after being deemed to be in breach of EU consumer law. In the original complaint, Nintendo was asked to offer free repairs to the existing Joy-Cons and change the design in future models to prevent drift – the EC did not mention what it could enforce.
Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders made a statement on the inquiry, which focuses on the idea of early aging, which sees companies creating products that start failing early, necessitating replacement or repair:
‘Early aging is a growing concern for all consumers. The Commission is determined to act against such trends and to empower consumers in the green transition. We are preparing a new legislative initiative aimed at providing consumers with better information on product sustainability, including durability, and better protection against certain practices, such as early aging. ”
This is not the first time that Nintendo has come under EC scrutiny. In 2002, the Commission fined the company € 149 million for price fixing, which was later reduced to € 119 million on appeal. The EC has also recently imposed fines on a number of gaming companies, including Valve, for blocking games on digital services.
The European Consumer Organization has lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift, calling for a “European inquiry” into the matter.
The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) published the news on the organization’s website, pointing out that ‘almost 25,000’ consumer complaints have been lodged across Europe across Switch. If you are not familiar with Joy-Con drift, this is when the analog on the control panel of the control panel registers movements without the input of the player.
According to consumer testimony, in 88% of cases, the game controllers broke within the first two years of use. As a result, the BEUC lodged a complaint with the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities “for premature aging and misleading failure of important consumer information.”The BEUC is further calling for a ‘European inquiry’ into the Joy-Con Drift issue and is asking Nintendo to ‘urgently address the premature failures of its product’. The article also suggests that the faulty controllers should be repaired by Nintendo for free.
According to the complaint letter, the BEUC is asking the European Commission to call on the national authorities to investigate Nintendo’s practices in their countries, launch a coordinated enforcement action and issue a joint position, which the company should request. to design their product, to prevent its early aging effectively, and until then to repair this product for free and to properly inform consumers about the limited life of the Joy-Con controllers. ‘
“Consumers assume that the products they buy, according to justified expectations, take a suitable amount of time, and that they do not have to pay for expensive replacements due to a technical defect,” said Monique Goyens, director of the BEUC. “Nintendo must now devise good solutions for the thousands of consumers affected by this problem.”
Nintendo has recently experienced legal issues in Europe, Canada and the US, with Canadian law firm Lambert Avocat filing an application in January this year to sue Nintendo.
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.