The news came on Twitter, where Dbrand prefaced a series of tweets by saying “Dock your Switch for a moment… we’ve got some bad news.”
The tweets relayed that the company began prototyping its adhesive skins for Switch after receiving the console a few days ago. “Having completed the JoyCon skins,” Dbrand tweeted — referring to the Switch’s small controllers — “everything looked phenomenal. Then, an issue arose.”
After removing the skin, it was obvious that the coating on the JoyCons do not play well with any kind of adhesive… (4/6) pic.twitter.com/m8kDluuTOX
— dbrand (@dbrand) March 3, 2017
“After removing the skin, it was obvious that the coating on the JoyCons do not play well with any kind of adhesive,” the tweets continued. It’s unclear exactly what kind or how many different types of adhesive the accessory maker tried, but whatever they did attempt left both the controllers and the console itself with unfortunate etching in the plastic and logos.
The company promised to refund all existing Switch skin pre-orders and advised Switch owners not to buy any adhesives or skins for their consoles.
Another company manufacturing Switch skins, Slickwraps, also announced that it would be canceling production of its skins after encountering similar issues, with the logo and black finish of the Switch console itself also suffering from damage. Any pre-orders have already been refunded and the company will continue looking into possibly making different skins for the Switch in the future.
Good on Dbrand and Slickwraps for doing right by their customers but as several Twitter users pointed out in the ensuing thread this raises the question: What does this mean for the Switch’s long-term durability? If the chemicals in accessory adhesive are capable of eating away at the console’s finish, what else might be? How will the controllers themselves stand up to heavy use over time? Nothing lasts forever, but if the coating on Switch controllers is as delicate as this may indicate customers are going to become unhappy quickly.
As Gamespot pointed out, it’s best to be extra careful with the system and JoyCons for now and possibly to invest in a screen protector and case just to be sure.
Updated on 3-8-2017 by Gabe Gurwin: Added information on Slickwraps also cancelling its skins.
