Shortly after the release of the PS5, many users started to experience issues regarding controller drift. Technical issues like controller drift have started to become more commonplace within the gaming community and the PS5 is sadly no exception to this. Although, a recent video that showcases the PS5 DualSense controller getting broken down might shed some light on why these issues are occurring.
For the past couple of years, controller drift has plagued the gaming community at large. A class action lawsuit is being made against Sony over PS5 controller drift as well as numerous lawsuits made against Nintendo and Microsoft for similar issues. However, it now seems that a lot of the issues players have had with controller drift seem to stem from one place in particular.
A recent video by YouTuber iFixit, shows a PS5 DualSense controller getting torn down into its singular components. According to iFixit, the components typically found in any gamepad are comprised of stock joystick hardware that only lasts over 417 hours before controller performance starts to degrade. The video does a fantastic job of explaining the finer details with regards to why this is consistently happening.
417 hours may seem like a lot of time, but as iFixit put it, if someone were to play Call of Duty Warzone on their PS5 for two hours a day, everyday, then it would take a little over seven months before the controller starts to show signs of performance degradation. For a controller with a price set at seventy dollars, that is not nearly enough time, especially considering the lifespan of any given console ownership is several years long.
Obviously, it's not ideal for players to have to replace their controllers roughly every seven months once the controller drift starts to get bad. It's interesting that the issue of controller drift is starting to occur more commonly during this console generation. These issues did not occur nearly as frequently on platforms like the Xbox 360 or PS3.
Luckily, iFixit discusses an effective way for players to fix controller drift in the video, but the fact that this is consistently happening to numerous console owners across various platforms is rather concerning. In addition to PlayStation, Microsoft and Nintendo have also received criticism regarding controller drift. Thus, it's clear that this issue is prevalent within the gaming community, but what's not clear is when exactly this issue will resolve itself. Not just on the PS5, but also on every other platform where this issue is occurring.