Recently, Steam Deck users have started reporting a troubling issue with their new units: stick drift. This is an issue that has plagued the Nintendo Switch and, to a lesser extent, the Xbox and PlayStation controllers and manifests itself in a slight misalignment of the analog sticks while playing. This can be a huge problem in most games, but especially where precision is needed, such as in Elden Ring.
While the few problem cases are unlikely to be indicative of a widespread problem, several posts on Reddit have confirmed that drifting occurs, especially on the right joystick. This video is pretty convincing… But fortunately, Valve has confirmed that although it is a common problem, easy to fix. Moreover, a firmware update has already been released to fix this.
Valve UX designer Lawrence Young confirmed on Twitter that the issue should now be resolved. “The team looked into the reported issues, and it turned out to be a dead zone regression due to a recent firmware update,” Yang tweeted. “We’ve just released a hotfix to address the bug, so make sure you’re in the know.” Reddit user also posted Valve support response. It said almost the same thing.
Hello everyone, a little note about Steam Deck mini joysticks. The team looked into the reported issues, and it turned out to be a dead zone regression due to a recent firmware update. We’ve just released a hotfix to fix the bug, so make sure you’re in the know. March 2, 2022
Whether the Steam Deck would suffer from stick drift or not was a big question ahead of launch. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, the Steam Deck controls aren’t easy to replace, meaning if your stick starts to drift, you’re kind of stuff. “We did a lot of reliability testing,” Valve Hardware Engineer Yazan Aldehayat. said back in July. “I think we feel it will work very well. And I think people will be very happy with it. I think this will be a great buy. I will be very pleased and pleased with it.”
