While we’re big fans of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, no hardware is completely bug-free. Despite all its neat features, such as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, it is a very technical package, so one or two problems are bound to crop up. Nothing is too widespread as far as we know, but the number of people reporting analog stick drift on the DualSense is growing.
If you haven’t heard the term “drift” before with regard to controllers, this refers to an issue where the pad detects an input on the sticks when it isn’t there. For example, the camera spins around in a first person shooter without you even touching the right stick. Here’s a video that sums it up pretty perfectly:
As Kotaku discovered, users are calling DualSense drift as early as 10 days after the launch of PS5. Apparently, this is a fault covered by the controller warranty, meaning Sony will repair or replace your dodgy pad. Depending on where you live, you may have to pay shipping costs to ship your DualSense to the company. Not ideal.
That said, our experience with PlayStation customer service in the UK has been quite positive. One of this author’s DualSense controllers had a different problem where one of the triggers lost resistance. After explaining the situation over the phone, an email was sent with a printable mailing label so we could send the pad for free. A new controller arrived in the mail a few weeks later. We can only imagine that this fairly painless process would be the same for a DualSense with drift or some other hardware issue.
Obviously, the PS5’s controller isn’t the only one dealing with drift. Any controller with analog sticks may be sensitive to this, the most infamous example being the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons. Still, it’s a frustrating mistake when it happens to you, and not what you expect from your brand new console. Have you had this kind of problem with your DualSense? Answer our poll and discuss in the comments below.