Sony hit with a class action lawsuit over drifting PlayStation 5 controllers

Uh oh.

This week, Sony received a class-action lawsuit related to a defect in its PlayStation 5 DualSense controllers that causes them to drift during gameplay.

Eurogamer reports that the lawsuit was filed by a law firm called Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP, the same firm behind another ongoing class action against Nintendo over Joy-Con drift.

The firm alleges that Sony is selling, “defective,” DualSense controllers, which, “contain a defect that results in characters or gameplay moving on the screen without user command or manual operation of the joystick ... This defect significantly interferes with gameplay and thus compromises the DualSense controller's core functionality."

Basically, faulty DualSense controllers’ joysticks are registering movements even without the player touching them, as demonstrated in this video posted on Reddit back in November 2020.

The firm also accuses Sony of being aware of these issues due to complaints made online, and that the company equipped the DualSense controller with, “virtually the same analog components,” as the PlayStation 4’s DualShock 4 controller which shared these drift issues. In addition to that, they allege that consumer’s options for repairing their faulty controllers are, “slim.”

The complaint points out that customers have to pay to ship the controller to a Sony repair center, even if they have a warranty.

The complaint reads, “Customers are experiencing long wait times and having to deal with a maze of pre-recorded phone prompts before finally speaking with an agent concerning repairs for DualSense controller drift.”

The plaintiff Lmarc Turner reportedly found out that their controller was suffering from drift problems on the same day of purchase. After Sony customer service proved to be unhelpful, he simply bought a second controller.

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The complaint reads, “Had Plaintiff been aware of the Drift Defect prior to purchasing his PS5, he otherwise would not have purchased the PS5, or would have paid substantially less for it.”

The firm demands a jury trial, as well as, “monetary relief for damages suffered, declaratory relief, and public injunctive relief.”

Drifting issues have plagued Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers for ages, to the point that the European Consumer Organisation called for an investigation into the issue after 25,000 complaints from multiple countries.

And no wonder, too - it’s difficult to enjoy playing games when your character starts moving by themselves, or your camera swings around wildly. If the DualSense controller is having similar issues, this could be the first of many future complaints levied against Sony.