Although we are huge fans of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, no hardware is completely flawless. For all its fancy features, such as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, it is an extremely technical kit and therefore there will be one or two issues that arise. As far as we know, there was nothing very widespread, but the number of people who reported the analog drift of the stick on DualSense is increasing.
If you have never heard the term “drift” in connection with controllers, it refers to a problem in which the buffer detects an entry on the sticks when there is no one. For example, the camera moves in a first-person shooter without you even touching the right bar. Here is a video that summarizes it quite perfectly:
As found by Kotaku, users have been shouting DualSense drift since 10 days after the launch of PS5. Apparently, this is a defect covered by the controller warranty, which means that Sony will repair or replace your buffer. However, depending on where you live, you may have to pay postage to send DualSense to your company. Not ideal.
That being said, our experience with PlayStation customer service in the UK has been quite positive. One of this author’s DualSense controllers suffered a different problem in which one of the triggers lost its resistance. After explaining the situation over the phone, an email was sent containing a printable postage stamp, allowing us to send the stamp at no extra cost. A few weeks later, a new controller arrived. We can imagine that this rather painless process would be the same for a drifting DualSense or any other hardware problem.
Obviously, the PS5 controller is not the only one dealing with drift. Any controller with analog sticks is potentially sensitive to this, the best known example being the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons. However, it is a frustrating flaw if it happens to you and not what you expect from your new console. Have you had such issues with DualSense? Take our survey and discuss it in the comments section below.