Steam Deck's Stick Drift Is A Firmware Problem, Not Hardware

thegamer.com:

There was once a time when the only reason you would ever hear the word drift in the video game world would be when referencing Mario Kart characters' cornering technique. Now the word strikes fear into the hearts of gamers and console designers alike rather than conjure up images of Yoshi winding around Rainbow Road. In video games, the word drift is now most commonly associated with a controller's analog sticks reacting as if they're being used even when they're not.

Just days after the arrival of the Steam Deck, some of the first people to get their hands on the new console claimed to have already been experiencing stick drift. Not a great start to life for the console. There is some very good news for those of you who have already experienced drift on the Steam Deck. It appears to be a firmware issue rather than a problem with the console itself.

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In fact, it appears to be a firmware issue that has already been fixed. Valve acknowledged and addressed the drift issue this week, revealing that a firmware update that should be live by the time you read this has already been rolled out. There have even been early reports from Deck owners on Reddit that the drift their consoles had previously been suffering from has now been fixed.

Valve referred to the problem as “a deadzone calibration issue” brought about by a prior firmware update, but today's one has fixed whatever problem the last one introduced. There is one theory that rather than fix the problem, Valve has simply made the deadzone larger. That makes it seem like the problem has been fixed as the Deck's sticks need to be moved further to register movement. However, if that is the fix Valve has