Nintendo Switch owners who have bought third-party docks to play games on their televisions are experiencing some serious problems.
Hundreds of Nintendo Switch owners have taken to a Reddit thread to complain of their consoles no longer working after being inserted into third-party docks. According to the users, the problem has become especially pronounced after Nintendo released its 5.0 Switch firmware earlier this month. It’s not a guarantee that everyone who uses third-party docks will be affected, but many are having trouble.
Nintendo Switch is a multi-use console that can be used both in the living room and on the go. When users are mobile, they can attach controllers to the Switch, which also comes with a display, and play games where they are. When they come home, they can plug the Switch into a plastic dock that comes with the device and play games on their televisions.
Despite the console shipping with a dock, some gamers buy third-party options. Those docks often have different designs and might be better-suited for a respective player’s room setup.
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According to the affected players, the third-party docks are unable to charge the Switch. And even when they plug the Switch into Nintendo’s own dock, the console won’t charge and it’s effectively rendered useless.
Nintendo issued a statement to gaming website Kotaku this week about the problem, saying that “unlicensed products and accessories do not undergo Nintendo’s testing and evaluation process.” Therefore, the Japanese game company argued, it’s possible that some units could have “compatibility problems” that would negatively affect players.
Nyko is a third-party accessory maker that offers an alternative dock to Switch owners. It’s also been cited by some players as the dock they were using when things went awry. Also in a statement to Kotaku, Nyko said that it’s looking into the problem, but believes it has something to do with “the way the Switch handles [audio-visual] output for an external TV/monitor.” The company said that it’s working on a solution.
At least so far, affected Switch owners have not found a suitable workaround.
Neither Nintendo nor Nyko immediately responded to a Coins2Day request for comment on the problem.