Steam Deck Users Are Already Experiencing Stick Drift

thegamer.com:

Stick drift is one of those issues that every player across almost every system will have had to deal with at some point or another. However, Steam Deck users would’ve thought that it would take more than just a few days for the issue to rear its ugly head.

First discovered by VGC, a select few Steam Deck users are currently experiencing the dreaded stick drift on their new Steam Deck systems and are sharing videos on Reddit. User Stijnnl’s video is one of the more recent examples, showing how the cursor keeps drifting down to the bottom of the screen despite the user letting go of the right joystick.

Related: Controller Drift Is Just Something We Have To Deal With Now

Stick drift is a pretty common occurrence once individual parts of a controller start to wear, but drift probably shouldn’t occur on a brand-new system. This is especially bad when you have a system like the Steam Deck that doesn’t come with easily replaceable parts. You could use a controller, but the Steam Deck only supports Bluetooth, and getting Bluetooth accessories to work is hardly reliable.

There’s also the possibility for those experiencing drift on the Steam Deck that don’t want the hassle of sending off for repairs to simply wait for the dock. Unfortunately, that doesn’t launch until “Spring 2022” with a more specific release date nowhere to be seen.

It was pretty unlikely that the Steam Deck would launch with zero technical issues, especially since this is Valve’s first foray into the handheld market and even then, its first piece of hardware to actually include joysticks. Valve had promised that it would make sure stick drift wouldn’t be an issue after worried fans pointed to the problems plaguing the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons, but it was