Sony PS5 DualSense Controller Drift – Class Action Investigation [Update: Lawsuit filed]

[delete12345]

UPDATE: See threadmark.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sony PS5 DualSense Controller Drift - Class Action Investigation - Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP

chimicles.com

CSK&D is investigating a potential class action based upon reports that Sony PS5 DualSense controllers for the PlayStation 5 console can experience drift issues and/or fail prematurely. Specifically, it is reported that the joystick on certain PS5 DualSense controllers will automatically register movement when the joystick is not being controlled and interfere with gameplay.

If you own a PS5 Dualsense controller experiencing drift issues, please contact the attorney(s) listed below by filling out the form provided.

Click to shrink...

So yeah, just found out that this is happening. I don't know when this showed up, but it's starting to trend online.

 

[Muffin]

I cant really tell from this if PS5 controller drift is actually widespread like with Joycons, or if the class action lawsuit against Nintendo for their Joycon problems just paved the way for lawsuits of this kind from now on.

I'd say the latter for now, but not sure.

 

[CSMITHY84]

I've responded even though I'm from the UK, Thought it was just me having problems.

 

[Ferrs]

Weird it's not about the triggers, that seems more common.

 

[Akelisrain]

Wasn't aware there was a wide spread issue. Knock on wood, have not had this occur to me.

 

[Deleted member 31333]

DS4 drift was certainly a thing. I wish there had been a class action for it.

My DS5 is still good so I really hope drift isn't a major problem.

 

[Uzupedro]

This is a random law firm trying to make a lawsuit based on online reports.
Joy-cons got a dozen of those until the ''real ones'' started to appear.

 

[Hyaku Shiki]

Does anything ever come of these? Nintendo has these lawsuits, as well as Microsoft. Do these companies ever fix the issue? Serious question.

 

[Deleted member 81119]

I cant really tell from this if PS5 controller drift is actually widespread like with Joycons, or if the class action lawsuit against Nintendo for their Joycon problems just paved the way for lawsuits of this kind from now on.

I'd say the latter for now, but not sure.

Click to shrink...

Thing is...that's how it was with Joycons at first too. Threads were full of people saying 'it's not widespread, people are exaggerating' and then obviously it turned out to be one of the biggest videogame electronic issues in memory.

It could very well be the same for Sony. We don't know. For me I'm going to assume the worst and hope for the best.

 

[Rowsdower]

Does anything ever come of these? Nintendo has these lawsuits, as well as Microsoft. Do these companies ever fix the issue? Serious question.

Click to shrink...

Going off the joy-con issue, survey says no. I bought a new pair (blue and yellow) a month ago and still have the drifting issue. I've learned to live with it.

 

[Deleted member 8463]

I've responded even though I'm from the UK, Thought it was just me having problems.

Click to shrink...

If this is a repeat of the joycons, then people in the US will get free replacements and we'll get nowt

 

[YozoraXV]

Does anything ever come of these? Nintendo has these lawsuits, as well as Microsoft. Do these companies ever fix the issue? Serious question.

Click to shrink...

I think the best case is it will get Sony to do any repairs for free, I think that's what happened with Nintendo and the Joycons.

 

[Deleted member 18400]

Is this actually a widespread problem? I only ask because I don't know anyone from my friends group experiencing the issues on PS5 or with the Series X. I know that is anecdotal at best, but when compared to the Joycon problem where everyone was bitching about it I just haven't heard anything about this.

 

[Carn]

I think the best case is it will get Sony to do any repairs for free, I think that's what happened with Nintendo and the Joycons.

Click to shrink...

I bought my PS5 at a retailer; they just swapped the controller with a new one. I asked the guy if they will actually "repair" the controller, his assumption was "nah".

 

[BaneOnTheLoose]

Am I SOL if I opened mine? lol

 

[Carn]

Is this actually a widespread problem? I only ask because I don't know anyone from my friends group experiencing the issues on PS5 or with the Series X. I know that is anecdotal at best, but when compared to the Joycon problem where everyone was bitching about it I just haven't heard anything about this.

Click to shrink...

There are some impacted users (like myself), and a bunch of reddit-posts and people on Era; but if you account for the fact that 4.5 million PS5s have been sold its kinda hard to get some real numbers at the moment.

 

[Carn]

Funny thing is that I actually used Astro's Playroom which comes with every PS5 to illustrate the issue at the store, when you start the game it shows a virtual controller, and you could clearly see the right stick moving while not even touching the controller.

 

[reclaimerzzzzz]

Is this actually a widespread problem? I only ask because I don't know anyone from my friends group experiencing the issues on PS5 or with the Series X. I know that is anecdotal at best, but when compared to the Joycon problem where everyone was bitching about it I just haven't heard anything about this.

Click to shrink...

There's no way to know, only Sony would be in a position to see how many controllers are being reported as defective and only they would know if it's a widespread problem or just a bad batch parts.

 

[mingo]

Hmmm I get the switch joycon class action as that had been on going for some time with no resolution in site, but ain't all Dual Sense controllers under warrenty at the moement and is free to repair or replace if broken?

 

[RelaxItsJustMe]

I hope it's not widespread because if I get drift on top of coil whine I'm going to be pretty pissed.

 

[ghostcrew]

Hmmm I get the switch joycon class action as that had been on going for some time with no resoltuion in site, but ain't all Dual Sense controllers under warrenty at the moement and is free to repair or replace if broken?

Click to shrink...

I guess, in some countries, they're making consumers pay to send them in. Someone from Canada was saying that Sony Canada wanted $25 for the shipping.

I suppose a positive change would be for them to swallow that cost?

 

[Lube Man]

Weird it's not about the triggers, that seems more common.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, trigger failing is the biggest problem. Might be smarter to go for that.

 

[TimPV3]

I want to say they're just trying to be the first to capitalize on the publicity generated by Kotaku, but I don't have any data to go by so 🤷‍♂️. It's just very odd to me that the sticks are similar to the DS4, which is the #1 selling console accessory, so if it was that widespread a lot more people should have it.

Just to clarify, it's obviously an issue, I just don't think it's going to affect as many people.

 

[dancingphlower]

Submitted a form. The drift is maddening.

 

[Zera Bloodwinter]

My PS5 controller is experiencing this and it's annoying as hell. The right stick just does whatever the hell it wants to do. Not going to go through the hassle of sending it back for repair, just going to get a new one....

 

[formasymphonic]

There are some impacted users (like myself), and a bunch of reddit-posts and people on Era; but if you account for the fact that 4.5 million PS5s have been sold its kinda hard to get some real numbers at the moment.

Click to shrink...

To also add to this — even if the failure rate was something extremely low like 0.5% then that would be like 22.5k units (not including separate DS5 purchases).

Then even if only half of those were to complain about it online then that would be >10k reports. 10k reports for example would be enough to make something look like a huge issue online, when it might not be be reflective of what's happening at scale. Not to downplay the possibility that it could be a huge widespread issue — its just that without a large enough data set, you can't tell how widespread it really is. Only retailers getting returns and Sony as the manufacturer would know the full numbers.

If they are fucking up at a disproportionate rate then I'd hate to see things play out like the JoyCon situation. The best thing Sony could do would be to get out in front of it rapidly, revise the hw and offer replacements for affected controllers.

My PS5 controller is experiencing this and it's annoying as hell. The right stick just does whatever the hell it wants to do. Not going to go through the hassle of sending it back for repair, just going to get a new one....

Click to shrink...

I know it seems annoying but its best to send it back. Getting accurate data on how many of these are going bad is the only way that stuff like this gets fixed. (Also on a personal level I hate seeing companies accessory revenues benefit by people giving in and paying to fix their mistakes)

 

[StanleyStutters]

Drift happened to me with every PS4 controller I've ever had. I always thought it was just part of wear and tear. No issues yet with the PS5 ones, thankfully.

 

[LDNStateOfMind]

DS4 drift was certainly a thing. I wish there had been a class action for it.

My DS5 is still good so I really hope drift isn't a major problem.

Click to shrink...

If i recall correctly DS5 uses the same component as the DS4...so yeah, good luck lol.

Had 2 DS4 one drifts the other is fine. So far my 2 DS5 are doing ok.

 

[JavelinR]

Yeah, trigger failing is the biggest problem. Might be smarter to go for that.

Click to shrink...

I can see that happening in the future. Right now I think drift is just an easier case to file for because of joycon precedent.

 

[riotous]

My PS5 controller is experiencing this and it's annoying as hell. The right stick just does whatever the hell it wants to do. Not going to go through the hassle of sending it back for repair, just going to get a new one....

Click to shrink...

Yeah they make you call them, and offer no real online support...

Which might work on me, I hate waiting on hold lol

 

[Lube Man]

I can see that happening in the future. Right now I think drift is just an easier case to file for because of joycon precedent.

Click to shrink...

You're right. Might be harder to even explain what adaptive triggers are. lol

 

[hey it's that dog]

I've never experienced drift over 4 generations of controllers. Am I... a god? I wonder if it's because I spend minimal time playing FPS games, which presumably require a ton of stick clicking relative to many genres.

I hope that we get some actual numbers out of this investigation if nothing else.

 

[BusterSword]

I've owned at least 6 ds4 controllers over the course of the ps4 and absolutely abused the shit out of them.
My ds5 was drifting worse than any of them on day 1 fresh out of the box.
This is 100% on Sony and why so many people want to downplay this is beyond me.

 

[Deleted member 3017]

I cant really tell from this if PS5 controller drift is actually widespread like with Joycons, or if the class action lawsuit against Nintendo for their Joycon problems just paved the way for lawsuits of this kind from now on.

I'd say the latter for now, but not sure.

Click to shrink...

The PS5 has been on the market for three months and is heavily supply constrained, so there's really no way to know yet if this problem is widespread. Three months into the life of Switch was the same. That's not really enough time to know how serious an issue is yet. We'll have a better idea when more systems and controllers are on the market and have seen regular use for a longer period of time.

 

[stormfire]

Weird it's not about the triggers, that seems more common.

Click to shrink...

They just replaced the product and company names from their earlier lawsuit that's all.

Microsoft Xbox One Drift – Class Action Investigation – Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP

chimicles.com

 

[HardRojo]

Good thing about this starting this early is that we'll be able to see how widespread it is sooner, and while I'm hoping it ends up being just faulty units in minimal numbers (because I don't want to go through the drift lottery again), we'll just have to wait and see. I'm gonna knock on wood too... just in case.

 

[canderous]

I guess, in some countries, they're making consumers pay to send them in. Someone from Canada was saying that Sony Canada wanted $25 for the shipping.

I suppose a positive change would be for them to swallow that cost?

Click to shrink...

WTF. I hope whoever this was refused to pay. No company worth their salt does this. If it's out of warranty that's something else entirely.

I am debating contacting them regarding the coil whine in my PS5 but after reading the coil whine mega thread (here and elsewhere), and seeing people who ended up with louder replacements I am now wondering if that's such a good idea. Especially if they're gonna try and make me pay for shipping here in Canada.

 

[Dekuman]

All analog controllers can drift.

 

[Protome]

Weird it's not about the triggers, that seems more common.

Click to shrink...

Neither issue seems to be particularly widespread (yet at least, and hopefully that continues!) but drift is something easier to spark up interest because Joy Con drift has been in the public view before so it makes more sense for a random law office to jump on that prematurely in case it goes somewhere.

 

[neptunez]

Good thing about this starting this early is that we'll be able to see how widespread it is sooner, and while I'm hoping it ends up being just faulty units in minimal numbers (because I don't want to go through the drift lottery again), we'll just have to wait and see. I'm gonna knock on wood too... just in case.

Click to shrink...

Exactly how will the public accurately know how widespread it is? Sony won't release numbers

Unless an independent research group is able to extrapolate a rough figure all we'll have to go off are personal accounts.

My DS registers random inputs and I'm not sure if it's considered drift

 

[Sweep14]

My local "gamestop" has a free exchange policy in place in case of defective controllers under warranty period (granted it's not physicaly broken, or obviously mistreated).

 

[HardRojo]

Exactly how will the public accurately know how widespread it is? Sony won't release numbers

Unless an independent research group is able to extrapolate a rough figure all we'll have to go off are personal accounts.

My DS registers random inputs and I'm not sure if it's considered drift

Click to shrink...

That's not for me to figure out, but taking this issue into account sooner will certainly help, right?

 

[gothmog]

People know you can send them back to Sony for repair/replacement under warranty, right? Not sure why a class action lawsuit is even warranted at this point since pretty much every PS5/DS out in the wild is probably still under warranty for at least the next 6 months. It's probably lawyers just trying to drag up business.

 

[delete12345]

People know you can send them back to Sony for repair/replacement under warranty, right? Not sure why a class action lawsuit is even warranted at this point since pretty much every PS5/DS out in the wild is probably still under warranty for at least the next 6 months. It's probably lawyers just trying to drag up business.

Click to shrink...

You aren't expected to send it back for repair/replacement under warranty within 6 months of normal use after purchasing the product. At least, it's not the norm when it comes to a $500 full bundle product.

 

[headspawn]

Damn, that was faster than Switch.

 

[Acevil]

You aren't expected to send it back for repair/replacement under warranty within 6 months of normal use after purchasing the product. At least, it's not the norm when it comes to a $500 full bundle product.

Click to shrink...

Also lets not ignore that you will have to pay for shipping, which can easily cost 1/3 of the price of the controller. For something that might still break down in the future.

 

[Archduke Kong]

We really won't know how widespread it is until the console is widely available, unfortunately. It might take a year or more to know if drift is going to be a persistent issue for this controller.

My DS registers random inputs and I'm not sure if it's considered drift

Click to shrink...

This sounds like the same issue the PS3 controllers have been giving me over the years. That's... not a good sign.

 

[sumo]

Not sure why a class action lawsuit is even warranted at this point.

Click to shrink...

"CSK&D is investigating a potential class action based upon reports that.." They aren't being instructed to start an investigation, they're doing it off their own back because they're grifting.

 

[Gnorman]

Seems more like a shitty law firm trying to cash in on some Internet noise at the moment but time will tell.

 

[Majik13]

I have never heard of this issue in relation to DualSense.