Few things about the PlayStation 5 are better than the DualSense controller. It feels great to hold, somehow as sturdy as it is light. The haptics are really dynamic, at least for that spell Which offer so support. It is beautiful. But even the mighty DualSense is reportedly not immune to the Achilles heel of modern video game controllers: drift.
When you think controller drift, your mind probably drifts to the Nintendo Switch. Almost immediately after the hybrid console released in 2017, unlucky players came to know the dreaded term ‘Joy-Con-drift’. In other words, the thumbsticks would usually malfunction and the console would send false inputs even if players didn’t touch them. In 2019, Nintendo recognized the problem in a comment Kotaku, and announced a new policy that offered both affected owners free repairs and refunds for previous repairs. Last year, the president of Nintendo formally apologized for the whole debacle (but didn’t say a word about it that class action suit).
Now PS5 owners are reporting similar issues with the DualSense.
Since the PS5 came out last November, players have been taking to social media share stories about DualSense control. An user reported the issue 10 days after receiving their PS5, stating that they had tried every possible solution – turning the console off and on, turning Bluetooth on and off, resetting the controller, and finally fully charging overnight – to no avail.
Another uploaded a video to Reddit which seems to be showing some serious controller drift. In the 15 second clip you can clearly see the thumbsticks player’s fingers while playing Destiny 2. And yet the player’s gun – a snazzy sidearm very similar to Lonesome, a legendary side-weapon with amazing rate of fire and a hefty punch – floats naturally across the screen. Yes, Beyond lightEurope offers some stunning vistas, but it’s better to enjoy it when you’re really at the controls.
At this point, your options for repairing a broken DualSense are small. You can visit Sony’s PlayStation support page which has a special portal for issues with PS5 hardware, including the DualSense controller. Be aware that the PlayStation support team is inundated with requests about the PS5, which is still next to impossible to find.
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When I tried to get support I was told to contact a customer service representative via the contact page for PlayStation support. In a chat conversation, an agent told me to call 1-800-345-7669 and press 1 for PS5. I did, and then listened, without joke, to a dozen different pre-recorded messages informing me that PlayStation support not the place to inquire about finding a PS5. I was then kicked over to hold. On the plus side, it was Gustavo Santaolalla’s soundtrack deliciously twangy The last of us theme. On the non positive side, I had to listen to it for 17 minutes. As always, PlayStation support remains a Byzantine maze of conflicting emotions.
When I finally reached a person I was told DualSense drift is under warranty. However, you will have to pay to ship your controller to a Sony repair center – costs that vary based on a number of factors, including the location and total weight of your package – but Sony will apparently cover the return. You don’t have to earn anything back on what you pay for that first shipping label.
Theoretically, the ability to adjust a controller’s dead zone at the system level would provide an ointment, at least in a way that a patch is wound on a bullet. The latest DualSense update, 0210, has not added such support. Neither does the latest PS5 firmware update. It’s unclear whether future PS5 updates will add such support.
Kotaku reached out to Sony for comment but had heard nothing from the press at the time.
The PlayStation 5 is less than three months out. Anyone can guess whether “DualSense drift” will become the next “Joy-Con drift” – sparking everything from a wave of customer commotion to years of excuse from the executive – or whether it will disappear. Hopefully, this problem will at least get buttoned up before some vampiric law firm smells blood and gets started yet another class action suit.