Nintendo Fined 35 Million Euros in France Due to Defective Joy-Cons

Nintendo will have to pay a fine of 35 million euros in France due to the defects of the Joy-Cons of the Nintendo Switch. This is a well-known problem that has created many headaches for the Japanese company in the past, and it has now been fined by the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF).

Was the Fine Inevitable?

Nintendo received notification of the sanction in recent hours and is believed to have accepted the measure, agreeing to pay the fine without filing any appeal. This is the second-highest fine ever imposed by the DGCCRF.

The sanction is related to Nintendo's behavior regarding the Joy-Con issue. The company was reportedly aware of the problem as early as 2018 but only issued an official communication about it in 2020. A solution, on the other hand, did not arrive until 2023. Therefore, the intervention of the DGCCRF does not concern the hardware defect itself but rather the way it was handled by the company, with the long timelines required for resolution.

In the official communication, it states: "This late and incomplete communication focused on the technical issue that rendered some Nintendo Switch controllers unresponsive. The DGCCRF deemed that this discouraged consumers from contacting Nintendo's after-sales support and led some to purchase new controllers."

With the DGCCRF's intervention, at least concerning the French market, the issue should be closed. However, the possibility of further local authorities intervening to impose new sanctions on Nintendo cannot be ruled out.