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Xbox In Hot Water, Facing Lawsuit Over Drifting Controllers

Sarah James

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Xbox In Hot Water, Facing Lawsuit Over Drifting Controllers

Featured Image Credit: Microsoft

I'm sure we've all owned a controller that, after a good amount of time and hundreds of hours' worth of games played on it, may start to feel a bit wonky. Analogue sticks generally seem to be the main culprits for this and can start to "drift" after extended use, moving your character or aiming in a direction that you haven't specified.

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But according to VGC, it seems that one unsatisfied user has had enough and has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft. The plaintiff is named as Donald McFadden, and he claims that the sticks on two separate Xbox Elite controllers began "drifting" within months of purchase.

Xbox Elite controller / Credit: Microsoft
Xbox Elite controller / Credit: Microsoft

The lawsuit was apparently filed on April 28 in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. McFadden claims that many people are experiencing problems once their 90-day warranty expires, and are having to pay for a repair on a known fault.

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It seems that the plaintiff bought himself an Xbox Elite controller - for an eye-watering $179 - but one of the sticks started to drift. Maybe (and reasonably) thinking it was just a defect in that particular controller, he picked up a second Xbox Elite controller. But the same thing happened within a similar time frame - a few months after purchase.

He tried fixing the problem himself and spent "a considerable amount of time" doing so, but wasn't able to resolve the problem. The suit claims that the "potentiometer", the device that translates physical movement to that on screen, has a design flaw which results in "unwanted electrical contact without input from the user".

Xbox Elite controller / Credit: Microsoft
Xbox Elite controller / Credit: Microsoft
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Because of this, McFadden is alleging that Microsoft must be aware of the problem, as many people have complained online about the issue. The lawsuit specifically claims that a large volume of consumers have been complaining about stick drift on Xbox One controllers since "at least 2014".

The lawsuit adds: "A simple Google search on this issue reveals multiple forum and message boards dedicated to stick drift; YouTube instructional videos of users attempting to fix the issue on their own; and even replacement joystick components from Amazon and other sellers."

A similar lawsuit was filed against Nintendo last year because of drifting Joy Cons on the Switch. The last we heard that's still ongoing, so it's anyone's guess how long this one might drag on.

Topics: Xbox

Sarah James
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