- Sony’s strategy of selling controllers that are prone to stick drift has been called a scam.
- A complex repair process, poor customer support, and the limited stock of replacement stick modules for the DualSense Edge leave customers with no option but to buy another controller.
- Sony has still not done much to address stick drift despite facing a class action lawsuit over the issue in the past.
Sony’s latest controller revision is dubbed the DualSense. Building on the foundations of the DualShock, this controller introduces adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and more.
The gaming giant also offers a pro variant of the DualSense. However, despite the impressive tech found in these controllers, they are still prone to stick drift, something that Sony has struggled with for a while.
As reported by Major_Trenton, Sony seemingly goes out of its way to make the process of replacing these sticks or claiming warranty as difficult as possible, making its controllers come across as a major scam.
Why it matters: The DualSense costs $70 per controller. While this does not seem too expensive on paper, the costs can quickly add up if users find themselves going through multiple worn-out controllers.
The video starts with describing Major_Trenton’s experience attempting to replace a Cosmic Red DualSense that developed stick drift in just a few months.
He immediately ran into a hurdle when customer support asked for the controller’s serial number. The user no longer had the box, and the serial number at the back had faded away after a few months of use.
Sony’s customer service clarified that a warranty could not be claimed without the serial number. However, once the user was able to provide this serial number, he ran into another problem.
Major_trenton claims that Sony made the warranty process complex on purpose. He also argues that the DualSense Edge isn’t much help here since the replacement stick modules are almost always out of stock.
They already cost $20, and since they’re hardly ever available to buy, users cannot easily swap out the faulty sticks, even if they know their way around DualSense repairs. The user concludes that Sony has done this on purpose to force users into buying new controllers.
He goes on to point out that the company previously faced a class action lawsuit for this issue, yet it has done little to fix stick drift in newer revisions.
It’s a great scam, I mean, business strategy.
-Major_Trenton
The video concludes that Sony has created a problem that should not exist. Even with the DualSense Edge, the gaming giant seems to have made very few stick modules to address the problem.
These stick modules are still unavailable on PlayStation Direct at the time of writing. While there is some hope Sony may offer better controllers in the future, the gaming giant has mostly ignored stick drift for nearly four years of the PS5’s lifespan.
With controllers being more popular than ever, it’s quite disappointing to see Sony offering subpar quality control on its best controller to date.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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