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Nintendo will fix your busted Switch Joy-Con, blames factory fail

"The manufacturing variation has been addressed and corrected at the factory level," says Nintendo.

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Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
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Sean Hollister
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You don't need to buy a new controller: Nintendo will fix it for free.

 Sean Hollister/CNET

If your Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers don't stay connected from across the room, you should really get them fixed. But if you haven't yet bought a Switch, Nintendo suggests there's nothing to fear.

In a new statement Tuesday, Nintendo says it's isolated the left Joy-Con wireless issue to a small number of controllers -- and admits for the first time that the problem was due to a manufacturing issue.

The good news: Nintendo also says it's already been fixed at the factory, and won't affect future batches.

Nintendo didn't say exactly how many units have the problem, but the company's statement suggests it doesn't affect enough controllers to proactively recall or replace them.

Instead, Nintendo recommends you take advantage of their free repair program for a quick fix -- which in our case was a little dot of foam. The company says the repair should take less than a week.

Here's Nintendo's full statement:

There is no design issue with the Joy-Con controllers, and no widespread proactive repair or replacement effort is underway. A manufacturing variation has resulted in wireless interference with a small number of the left Joy-Con. Moving forward this will not be an issue, as the manufacturing variation has been addressed and corrected at the factory level.

We have determined a simple fix can be made to any affected Joy-Con to improve connectivity.

There are other reasons consumers may be experiencing wireless interference. We are asking consumers to contact our customer support team so we can help them determine if a repair is necessary. If it is, consumers can send their controller directly to Nintendo for the adjustment, free of charge, with an anticipated quick return of less than a week. Repair timing may vary by region. For help with any hardware or software questions, please visit http://support.nintendo.com.