Microsoft is now facing a class-action lawsuit over known drifting issues that are allegedly plaguing a number of Xbox One controller models out there.
Filed by plaintiff Donald McFadden earlier in the week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, the court documents claim (via VGC) that Microsoft is fully aware about the persistent issue but still refuses “to disclose the defect and routinely refuses to repair the controllers without charge when the defect manifests.”
Drifting, for those unaware, occurs when controllers register movements on their own even when the analogue sticks are untouched. McFadden claims to have purchased an Xbox Elite controller that started drifting after a short time. He then decided to purchase a second Xbox Elite controller only to face the same drifting defect “three or four months” later.
While trying to repair his controllers on his own, McFadden claims to have discovered a design flaw. The wiper component of the potentiometer within the controller scrapes resistive material off a curved track, resulting in unwanted inputs from the user.
The lawsuit also points out that drifting complaints have been surfacing for Xbox One controller since 2014 and a simple search on Google can display “a large volume of consumers” who have been victims.
Interestingly, a similar class-action lawsuit was filed against Nintendo last year over drifting Joy-Con controllers. Nintendo stopped charging for repairs soon after and also began refunding users who had already paid to have their drifinting Joy-Con controllers fixed. However, Nintendo never accepted the controllers to be defected and last month, tried to get the case dismissed.
