Nintendo of Europe has agreed to pay a €35 million (A$62 million) penalty after a consumer watchdog found the company misled customers over the long-running Joy-Con drift problem affecting the original Nintendo Switch.

France’s General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, known as the DGCCRF, sanctioned Nintendo after concluding the company failed to properly inform consumers about defects in the Switch’s detachable Joy-Con controllers.

The issue, widely known as Joy-Con drift, causes a controller’s analogue stick to register movement even when it is not being touched. The fault became one of the most notorious hardware problems linked to the Switch, which has sold more than 155 million units globally.

According to the regulator, Nintendo was aware of the defect as early as 2018 but did not properly notify consumers until 2020.

The watchdog said this meant some customers bought replacement controllers unnecessarily, rather than seeking repairs.

Nintendo has denied intentionally misleading consumers.

In a statement to French newspaper Le Monde, the company said the settlement did not amount to an admission of guilt and reflected an “amicable resolution” of legal proceedings.

The investigation followed complaints from consumer group UFC-Que Choisir, which had accused Nintendo of planned obsolescence over the drifting controllers.

Consumer groups have previously claimed the issue was linked to a design flaw in the Joy-Con hardware.

A 2022 report by UK consumer organisation Which? alleged that plastic circuit boards inside the controller showed significant wear after only months of use.

Nintendo later offered free repairs for affected Joy-Con controllers and quietly revised later models, although the company has generally avoided detailing the exact hardware changes made.

The penalty comes as Nintendo shifts attention to its newer Switch 2.

So far, there have been no widespread reports that the same drift problem has returned on the latest console.