Nintendo has agreed to pay a €35 million ($40 million) fine to France's consumer protection agency, the DGCCRF, settling a long-running dispute over the original Switch's Joy-Con drift issue.
The French watchdog accused Nintendo of misleading commercial practices and planned obsolescence.
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Investigators found that Nintendo was aware of the widespread stick drift problem—where analog sticks register phantom movements—as early as 2018.
However, the company did not properly notify consumers until 2020.
Many players bought replacement controllers instead of using Nintendo's free repair program because the company remained silent about the defect.
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Despite the payout, Nintendo denied intentionally misleading buyers.
In a statement to Le Monde, the company said the fine does not constitute an admission of guilt and reflects only an amicable resolution of legal proceedings.
Recent financial filings show a matching ¥6.4 billion loss on litigation, confirming the settlement on the balance sheet.
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Joy-Con drift was a defining hardware flaw for the original Switch, affecting its 155 million user base.
Consumer groups attributed the drift to rapid wear on the joystick slider's plastic circuit boards.
Nintendo quietly revised later Joy-Con models to mitigate the wear but has historically avoided discussing the exact hardware changes.
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The Switch 2, now on the market for a year, has not seen widespread reports of drift returning.
