Xbox One Elite Controller: stick drift issues lead to a lawsuit

For five years, Microsoft’s Xbox One Elite controller has been in the hands of esports players and many gamers across the world, and it has been widely acclaimed. But there has been a lawsuit filed in the last week that is raising an issue with ‘joystick drifting’.

The controllers stemmed from the mid-cycle of the Xbox One, released back in 2013, and with streaming and multiplayer rounds becoming huge around this time, players wanted a controller to tailor to their own tastes.

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Featuring customisable sensitivity of certain buttons, with interchangeable trigger buttons at the back, it’s been a controller deemed very reliable throughout its time.

But now there is a lawsuit, claiming that there is a defect and causing some ‘Elite’ controllers to drift. There’s been suits in the past of other controllers not working as expected, such as the drifting of Nintendo’s Joy-con controllers for the Switch, or Sony’s ‘rumble’ lawsuit back in 2006.

What we know about the lawsuit

VGC reports that a lawsuit was filed on April 28th by a plaintiff in the name of ‘Donald McFadden’, who has claimed that the controllers are experiencing a ‘drifting’ issue after the 90-day warranty expires, knowingly letting people pay for the repair.

McFadden had purchased an Elite Controller and claims that after a while, he began to notice the left joystick start to drift. He purchased another and apparently experienced the same issue just a few short months later.

He alleges that Microsoft know about the issue and are failing to recognise it, causing customers to pay for the issue to be resolved.

READ MORE:Sony’s controller history

What to do if you're affected

The claim also alleges that it’s not an isolated experience, with a ‘large number of customers’ experiencing the same fault.

With the Xbox Series X having its announcement this Thursday with certain games for the system being shown, it could slightly detract from this on-going lawsuit.

But lawsuits have been settled and dismissed before in the industry, so this may be one that is resolved sooner rather than later. You've got to assume that Microsoft won't want any bad press.

But if you are experiencing the same issue, contact Microsoft at Xbox Support, to see if a fix can be resolved. But be aware, due to COVID-19, that the response time may be longer than usual.

READ MORE: Xbox Controller Design History