Image: Dbrand
A short time ago, Dbrand came under fire for design issues with its Killswitch Case for Switch 2 – in short, some users were finding that, with the case attached, the magnetic connection between the console and its Joy-Con 2 controllers was weakened, leading to them disengaging unintentionally.
At the time, Dbrand appeared to dismiss the issue, only to quickly apologise and promise to issue replacement parts that would solve the problem. It has now contacted its customers to clarify how it is dealing with the fault.
“A few weeks back, you may have seen articles floating around about a Killswitch controversy,” says the company in an email seen by Nintendo Life.
“The extreme tl;dr version of this issue is that, when the Killswitch is held under very specific one-handed conditions, some Switch 2 Joy-Cons are unexpectedly detaching from the main console. This is due to a manufacturing tolerance issue on our original production run. Because the tolerance issue only affected a portion of stock, there’s a good chance you never noticed the issue at all. Whether you’ve experienced the issue or not, there’s no reliable way for us to determine which units were affected. As a result, we’re taking a cautious approach and simply replacing everyone’s Joy-Con Grips for free.”
In the same email, the manufacturer insists it has gone one better by creating an “all-new design that eliminates the risk of detachment entirely” called ‘Joy-Lock’.
Dbrand is also taking steps to address complaints levelled at its Dock Adapter, which ships alongside the Killswitch Case for Switch 2:
“In addition to feedback about the Joy-Con Grips, we’ve heard from customers that our Dock Adapter makes it difficult to un-dock the Switch 2 with one hand. As a result, users find themselves needing to hold the dock adapter down with one hand, while un-docking their Switch 2 with the other. To remedy this, all shipments of Joy-Lock Grips will also include a set of friction pads to apply to your Dock Adapter. These friction pads will make the Dock Adapter seat more snugly on the OEM dock, enabling one-handed undocking.”
Dbrand says it is “currently in the process of mass-producing about half a million sets of the new Joy-Lock Grips and a similar number of Dock Adapter friction pads,” and that shipping is expected to take place in early August.
Damien has been writing professionally about tech and video games since 2007 and oversees all of Hookshot Media’s sites from an editorial perspective. He’s also the editor of Time Extension, the network’s newest site, which – paradoxically – is all about gaming’s past glories.