PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller suffers drift; Sony faces a class action lawsuit as repairs are slow

Sony is facing a class-action lawsuit for the PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller issue that recently surfaced online. Inspecting the details, several reports outlined that Sony PS5 DualSense Controller started showcasing a defect known as drifting. For context, controller drifting is a defect where the joystick/thumb-stick will send phantom/false signals to the system. Most of the time, this will happen even if the user is not touching the joysticks/thumb-sticks. It is worth noting that the PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller is not the first Sony controller to suffer from drift. What aggravates the issue is that the repairs to fix any wide-spread issue seem to be quite difficult and expensive. Let’s check everything we know around the Sony PS5 DualSense Controller drift along with the class action lawsuit.

Sony PS5 DualSense Controller drifting issue surfaces; no easy repair possible

The information about drifting on the Sony PS5 DualSense Controller first surfaced on Reddit, just 10 days after the purchase. The user noted that they tried every trick to try and fix the issue including resetting the controller, restarting the console, and more but nothing worked. More PS5 users have taken to Reddit to outline controller drift with video clips and more.

A report from Kotaku also outlined that Sony support redirected the users to customer service agents from PlayStation support. However, the process to reach the agent was long signifying a considerable load on the service. In the end, the agent asked the user to ship their controller to the Sony repair center at their own cost. The experience in India could be drastically different (and not for the better) than what Kotaku has outlined. However, it is likely that the support in India won’t be burdened if reports about the initial lot of 4,000 PS5 consoles are true.

It is also worth noting that an early PS5 DualSense Controller tear-down predicted the drifting back in November 2020. The tear-down by the YouTube channel TronicsFix outlined that Sony had used the similar Joystick/Thumb-stick components as previous-generation controllers. A lineup that has reported drifting issues in the past. The good thing about the design of the controller is that technicians can repair and replace individual parts.

Class action lawsuit against Sony; details

Moving beyond the issue, a US-based law firm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP (CSK&D) has just filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony. CSK&D states that the PS5 DualSense Controller is defective and the company knew about the issue. It stated that this means that Sony was “fraudulent, deception, unlawful, and unfair” in its conduct towards its customers. The firm filed the suit in the District Court in the Southern District of New York. It has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiff Lmarc Turner along with “all other similarly situated” users. It also noted that Sony was experiencing backlog when it came to repairs including long wait times. The suit also claims that it has not seen any “indication” about a fix during the repair. We have reached out to Sony India for an official comment and will update the story accordingly.