PlayStation 5’s “DualSense” Gamepad Under Class-Action Lawsuit Threat

• People are reporting “drifting” trouble with their brand new PS5 DualSense controllers.
• Sony hasn’t responded to the growing number of the reports yet, and support is anemic.
• A U.S. law firm is already investigating the reports and may soon submit a class action lawsuit.

As awesome as the Sony PlayStation 5 “DualSense” controller may look, there’s a rising number of users who report unexpected problems with it even after a couple of weeks or even ten days of use. In light of multiple user reports, an American law firm is already looking into the possibility of launching a class-action lawsuit against Sony, seeking damage compensation.

The reports mention similar problems to those that plagued some Nintendo Switch devices, dubbed “Joy-Con drift.” That is the automatic registration of movement when the user’s fingers do not touch the joystick. This obviously interferes with gameplay, has the potential to destroy someone’s fun by registering the wrong move at the worst possible time, and can introduce tremendous amounts of frustration.

While not everyone out there is a professional gamer/streamer, precision control is sought after by all players, no matter their level. After all, the games themselves rely on this precision to create an immersive and enjoyable experience, so taking that away is extremely irksome and damaging.

Affected users report to have tried everything to fix the problem, including power-cycling the console, turning the Bluetooth on and off, resetting the controller, charging it overnight, and giving it a good smack, but nothing worked. If only Sony had given an option to set the dead zone to a value that would ignore tiny and obviously false movement registrations, people would be able to fix the problem themselves. For now, the latest firmware update hasn’t introduced anything on that part.

And as if the above wasn’t enough on its own, there’s even a respectable number of reports from people who claim that their controller has failed prematurely. For a $69.99 gamepad, the above reports don’t match the promise on the potentiometer or general quality. Sony will have to quickly address the problem, but for the moment, they are silent about it and did not even publish an official response to what may be going on.

If you are holding a problematic DualSense, you may want to try your luck on the PS5 support page or call “1-800-345-7669.” Again, users report having little success through these official channels, so you may want to go straight to the CSK&D investigation page and help get things moving.