Nintendo Switch 2 owners — including multiple Split Fiction players — are reporting that their consoles are automatically disabling the rumble feature after “prolonged use.”
What exactly constitutes prolonged use is up for debate, as some players have reported on Reddit that the feature was disabled after about a minute of nonstop rumbling; others say it’s disabled on and off throughout 90-minute gameplay sessions. The Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t come with a physical user manual, and neither the console’s health and safety info sheet nor its digital user manuals contain info about the automatic rumble deactivation feature.
“I was getting this message originally after about an hour and a half of handheld playtime. Now it shows within the first 20 min.,” redditor Wonderful_Guava1533 shared in a post on the Nintendo Switch 2 subreddit.
The rumble does appear to come back on after a short period, however.
“I got this message for the first time last night playing split fiction. It was only getting that message if there was a nonstop rumble for like a minute or so. But it would come back on after a few seconds if there was a break in the rumbling,” Reddit user jorjorbinks99 wrote.
While some players think the feature could included to prevent the console from overheating, though Nintendo has not responded to Polygon’s request for clarification. We also tried to replicate the issue on a few Switch 2 consoles to no success.
Some folks online suggest it may be a feature meant to prevent players from developing hand-arm vibration syndrome, a condition in which holding onto vibrating objects — from jackhammers to rumbling console controllers — can lead to permanent issues like numbness in fingers and muscle weakness. One Split Fiction player even mentioned experiencing a sensation of numbness from the controller’s intense vibration.
“Wife and I got a kick out of it!” the user said. “My hand was starting to go numb!!!”
In an update, the original poster says they contacted Nintendo support and were told to send in their Joy-Con 2 controllers for repair.
“They didn’t really have an answer,” the player explained. “The solution, though, is I have to send my Joy-Cons off to [Nintendo] to see what’s wrong and fix them. So unfortunately I will be out Joy-Cons for 3-4 weeks.”
