A federal judge in California has dismissed the Joy-Con class action lawsuit against Nintendo. The lawsuit was brought against Nintendo by two Nintendo Switch owners who experienced drifting issues with their Joy-Cons. Ultimately, the judge ruled against the pair, citing the End User License Agreement “which disallows lawsuits and forces aggrieved parties to go into arbitration.” Arbitration is a method that removes the court from the proceedings until a third party can verify whether the plaintiffs have a valid claim to damages.
The lawsuit, first filed in November of 2020, asserted that the Joy-Con drift issue became so severe that it rendered the console unplayable. The plaintiffs, who were minors at the time of filing, believed that Nintendo was in violation of different California based advertising and consumer laws and “sought declaratory judgment that minor plaintiffs may disaffirm the EULA on behalf of all minors.” In December 2020, the parents of the plaintiffs were told to proceed in arbitration and that they minors were not parties to the EULA. This led to the parents abandoning the claim.
In September of 2022, an order denied the defendant’s (Nintendo’s) motion to dismiss the claims as moot. However, the same order allowed Nintendo to dismiss the claims for “lack of standing” because the suit “failed to state an injury-in-fact”. The case was dismissed without prejudice meaning that the plaintiffs could file again.
Which they chose to do in November, resulting in the legal win for Nintendo.
Basically, the case can be boiled down to the minors asserting that they were not beholden to the EULA as they received the consoles as gifts and were the de facto owners. As they were not the actual owners of the console, there is no agreement between Nintendo and the minors. That argument was stopped by the arbitration panel and are not allowed to be relitigated. Along with that, their claims that they violated certain false advertising and consumer laws could not apply to the minors as they were not the ones who legally own the consoles. The parents would be the ones who “suffered that injury, if any injury there be.”
Through all that legal gobbledygook, consumers can see that Nintendo has a very solid EULA, preventing users from putting together a worthwhile class action suit. Of course, we are not lawyers here at ZU, but that much is made clear.
This is just one of several lawsuits Nintendo is involved in concerning Joy-Con drift. However, it all comes back to the EULA. The EULA essentially forces plaintiffs to go into arbitration before any suit can be brought before a judge. At this point, the current claims are in arbitration and will most likely lead to dismissal.
If you are experiencing Joy-Con drift, Nintendo issued an apology in 2020 and offers to repair them for free through their website.
