Class-action lawsuit filed against Sony over DualSense controller drift issues

[midian182]

What just happened? Here's something that can be filed under 'unsurprising.' Following reports that some of Sony's PS5 DualSense controllers were suffering similar drift issues that have plagued the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons and Microsoft's Xbox One controllers, the company is now facing a class action.

Last week brought reports that some PS5 owners had found their DualSense controllers were displaying drift—analog sticks detecting phantom inputs. It quickly led to Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith (CSK&D) asking anyone with affected controllers to contact the law firm through an online form.

As reported by Eurogamer, the DualSense class-action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of a plaintiff called Lmarc Turner, of Virginia, along with other US DualSense owners.

The complaint was filed on February 12 against Sony Corporation of America and Sony Interactive Entertainment. It claims the DualSense is "defective."

"Specifically, the DualSense controllers that are used to operate the PS5 contain a defect that results in characters or gameplay moving on the screen without user command or manual operation of the joystick, " states the suit.

"This defect significantly interferes with gameplay and thus compromises the DualSense controller's core functionality."

CSK&D has plenty of experience in this area. The company is behind the ongoing class-action suit against Nintendo over its Joy-Con drift problems.

Dualsense Drift from r/PS5

While drift often affects controllers only after a lengthy period of time, some users say it appeared within weeks of purchasing the console—ten days, in one case. One Redditor posted a video of the controller drift affecting Destiny 2.

Microsoft has also been hit with a class action over joystick drift in its Xbox One controllers; the $180 Xbox Elite Controller was added to the suit last October.

According to Kotaku, controller drift is covered by the PS5's warranty, but the returns process is a long and arduous one, and owners must pay the cost of shipping affected controllers to a repair center. Sony does pay for return postage, but there's no reimbursement for the initial shipping label.

Masthead credit: Pixls

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https://www.techspot.com/news/88630-class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-sony-over-dualsense.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I’ll definitely join in on this one.

Can we also do a class action against Microsoft for the Xbox One Controller

 

[Thretosix]

I’ll definitely join in on this one.

Can we also do a class action against Microsoft for the Xbox One Controller

I believe there already is one.

 

[Puiu]

Can anyone here who was a PS5 confirm that they have drift issues? If they do then I suggest playing some Eurobeat while the controller drifts.

 

[DZillaXx]

I believe there already is one.

I believe that one is for the elite controller.

Out of all controllers on the market the standard xbox one controller seems to have the least issues with drift. But any controller can suffer from it. Its simply a drawback for the analog stick design. The only thing they could really do it have an internal boot around the mechanism. But that would disrupt the feeling of the joystick itself.

Build quality from the start does effect how long and how well these mechanisms handle drift. And the Switches are by far the worst in that regard.

 

[Thretosix]

I believe that one is for the elite controller.

Out of all controllers on the market the standard xbox one controller seems to have the least issues with drift. But any controller can suffer from it. Its simply a drawback for the analog stick design. The only thing they could really do it have an internal boot around the mechanism. But that would disrupt the feeling of the joystick itself.

Build quality from the start does effect how long and how well these mechanisms handle drift. And the Switches are by far the worst in that regard.

That may be the case, I thought I saw one for the newer controllers as well. I do know they have had connectivity issues.

 

[yRaz]

I hope everyone enjoys getting their 38 cent checks

 

[Thretosix]

I hope everyone enjoys getting their 38 cent checks

Pretty much how these things go.

 

[Adi6293]

I honestly can't believe people are that sad to sue a company of a controller when the warranty covers the issue, even if it cost you $5 for postage......

 

[AMDGeForceRX4090]

I honestly can't believe people are that sad to sue a company of a controller when the warranty covers the issue, even if it cost you $5 for postage......

Why should the customer have to pay for the billion dollar company's mistake?

 

[Adi6293]

Why should the customer have to pay for the billion dollar company's mistake?

Because its few $$ at most, I would understand if Sony said they wouldn't cover it but they do... I'm not defending Sony but this is silly in my opinion

 

[Reehahs]

I am surprised that enough gamers managed to get hold of PS5 to highlight this issue.

 

[BrendonKoz]

Out of all controllers on the market the standard xbox one controller seems to have the least issues with drift. But any controller can suffer from it. Its simply a drawback for the analog stick design. The only thing they could really do it have an internal boot around the mechanism. But that would disrupt the feeling of the joystick itself.

The current Xbox One controller that I am using (I've gone through 4) started exhibiting drift in the left analog stick after only about 3 weeks. Thankfully this one hasn't progressed as quickly as others I've had in the past once it's shown signs of issue, but that's still simply unacceptable for a $60 piece of hardware using a $0.05 piece of internal component that consistently fails. I've purchased replacement parts of that internal component to fix the drift because I got tired of buying new controllers, but I'm always concerned that taking something apart not truly meant to be taken apart can always result in breakage...so at least now I have a spare backup controller, just in case (both have drift issues - hopefully soon only one will).

I'm not an engineer or a hardware developer, but I'd imagine that parts could be created to simulate resistance of the stick and instead use optical sensors to determine stick location instead of physical components that are prone to malfunction due to their sensitive nature of construction. (And yes, I realize it'd cost more - so perhaps, at least with the Xbox controllers, only offer it in the Elite. I'd have a reason to buy that absurdly expensive controller at that point.)

 

[Thretosix]

I believe that one is for the elite controller.

Out of all controllers on the market the standard xbox one controller seems to have the least issues with drift. But any controller can suffer from it. Its simply a drawback for the analog stick design. The only thing they could really do it have an internal boot around the mechanism. But that would disrupt the feeling of the joystick itself.

Build quality from the start does effect how long and how well these mechanisms handle drift. And the Switches are by far the worst in that regard.

Yeah the Elite uses the same part for the joysticks I believe. There is a video from ifixit that was recently released breaking it down. Perhaps the elite is easier to fix, I have two first gen elite controllers a black one and a white one, haven't had a problem with either. There are several others that use it as well. It seems to be broken down for the DualSense controller starts to fail at 417 hours which is only 17 days of non-stop usage. That doesn't seem right at all. I know I have probably 1000 hours on one of my gen 1 elite controllers and it feels brand new. Who knows what people do with controllers these days, perhaps people throw controllers when angry. No way I'm doing that with the cost of controllers in general these days. I have 8 Xbox One controllers two for the Series X, only problem I had was when I first got my Series X there was a connectivity problem, they must have fixed it or all it took was a reboot or something because I haven't had that problem in a while.