Nintendo Switch patent plans to end Joy-Con drift

A newly discovered patent from Nintendo talks of a new type of controller; one that sounds like an attempt to mitigate drifting issues.

There’s still no telling when Nintendo will properly unveil its next console, known by fans as the Nintendo Switch 2, but there are plenty of rumours surrounding it.

In just the last couple of weeks, it’s been claimed to be capable of pushing graphics comparable to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and will include a new camera with AR functionality.

Now, there is some speculation that the new console will feature upgraded Joy-Con controllers, thanks to a newly discovered patent.

Said patent was filed back in May but was only made public on September 7, before being discovered and shared over the weekend.

It obviously doesn’t directly mention the Switch 2, or any such console, but what it does show is Nintendo’s interest in coming up with a new type of joystick controller.

In this instance, it posits a joystick that makes use of a magnetic field, meaning it can read player input without the stick needing to come in physical contact with the surrounding borders.

Hypothetically, this could be Nintendo’s answer to the notorious Joy-Con drift. As a reminder, that’s an issue where the controller reads player input even if you aren’t touching the joystick.

Aside from helping mitigate wear and tear (since the sticks shouldn’t have to rub against anything), it should mean that the sticks will revert to the centre when not being used. So, there’s less worry of it being a bit off and reading inputs that aren’t there.

You can read the patent for yourself here, but there is some debate on Reddit over whether the idea makes use of magnets or just motors embedded in the axis of the joysticks.

One user, Scorcher646, claims it’s the latter, adding that since the idea requires more consumable parts, any such controllers would be more expensive.

‘These joysticks are also going to be more expensive because they’ve got a complicated control circuit and they also have this rather expensive fluid in them,’ they write.

As this is just a patent, there’s no guarantee Nintendo is going to use this for its next console, but it makes sense that it’s looking into more long-term solutions for Joy-Con drift.

After all, the situation’s become so bad that the company now offers to fix drifting controllers for free, even without a warranty.

It’s also the case that joystick drift is common on all modern controllers, including those from Sony and Microsoft – although how easily they can get round the patent, if it does prove cost effective, remains to be seen.

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