Joy-Con drift – Definition, Problems, Solution, Protection, and Tips

Table of Contents

What is Switch Joy-Con drift?

Joy-Con drift is the name they give to Switch owners who have experienced with one of their detachable controllers.
They find that Switch’s movement is being detected when they are not touching or sensing the thumb stick on a Joy-Con.
Sometimes it happens even when they are not touching a Joy-Con at all.
It makes your gaming hard when characters move in different directions, not prompted by the player.
Or, an in-game camera can pan away from the action for no good reason.
Reports of Joy-Con drift are not isolated, either.
There are many posts on Twitter complaining about the issue, and many members of Kotaku’s staff have revealed they have experienced it.

Since the Nintendo Switch Lite is released, more portable Switch owners claim that they are suffering from Joy-Con drift, on its non-detachable thumb sticks.
It is not a severe problem that affects all Joy-Con, although it is pretty widespread.
And also, there are numerous cases where it has occurred for at least almost a year.
As we describe, it happens more with the left sticks than with the right ones.
And despite not touching the controllers, sometimes the game moves by itself.
“I have the character still, for example, and the camera goes to the sides by itself, or the character moves even if it doesn’t touch the controls.”
It’s not that it happens constantly, but it does happen enough to make it annoying, they explain.
It is an annoying problem that directly interferes with the control of the game.
Nintendo supports phantom keystrokes with the Switch’s Joy-Con
Now Nintendo has recognized the problem and promises a solution.
To date, only if you were under warranty could you go to Nintendo and have them changed.

The cause is unknown, but Nintendo already offers official support.
There is no official explanation yet, but it could be a combination of several factors.
First is the dust, which could get inside the stick and generate accidental touches.
Other theories are that the connectors could be poorly assembled.
There is also no clear solution, so our recommendation is to follow Nintendo’s information and go to the company’s support.
Nintendo has already recognized the problem and predictably offers a quick and free solution even though the Switch warranty has already passed.
Although sending an accessory to repair is not very rewarding, at least we already have confirmation that Nintendo will listen to us.
And admit that something has not worked as it should.
It remains to hope that the brand has fixed these problems in the new Nintendo Switch 2019 and Lite, where the controls are not removable.

When you are a US resident or citizen and are not satisfied with Nintendo’s response to the issue, you can join the class action.
It is filed by legal firm CSK&D on behalf of your Switch owner Ryan Diaz, who experiences the issue on numerous Joy-Cons old and new.
It alleges that “the joysticks on Joy-Con controllers are defective, leading users to experience drift issues”.
And therefore “brings claims under various consumer protection statutes as well as various warranty and common law claims.”

Also Read: Jabra Elite 75t – Design, Specifications, Sound Quality, Drawbacks, and More