The first batch of Steam Decks has just started arriving A lucky few can order them on FridayA few owners have reported stick drift on their devices. But now Valve tells us that what’s happening is a “dead zone calibration issue” – indicating that this is a software issue rather than a hardware issue – and that the team has already shipped a fix for it.
Joystick drift is an issue that causes your in-game character or cursor to keep moving even when you don’t push the joystick in a direction. It’s an issue that many have encountered with the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers. While Nintendo itself suggested this issue It will not be fully dealt with Because Joy-Cons Will Fade Over Time, Repairs drifting Joy-Con controllers for free. Drift doesn’t just appear on Joy-Cons, though; Some have reported drift problems with PS5 DualSense Controllersis very.
at three Different Videos From the Steam Deck subreddit, you can see the times when one of the thumb sticks continues to record an entry while the user is not touching the stick. A couple of users showed a logging issue with the Steam Deck Calibration Checker.
But according to Steam Deck team member Lawrence Yang, “The team has looked at these reports and has determined that there is a dead zone calibration issue that was introduced in a recent firmware update. We have just shipped a solution to address the issue, and the team will continue to monitor reports related to this issue.”
Since a fix update has just shipped, we will have to wait and see if it really addresses the joystick drift issue. While any issues with deviation can be concerning, especially since it appears on the brand-new Steam Decks, it’s unclear how widespread the problem is.
In an interview with Washington PostValve’s Pierre-Loup Greves estimated that “tens of thousands” of people would get their floors, but there are still a handful of videos documenting the problem. My colleague Sean Hollister told me on Tuesday that his joystick is in his own review unitwhich he’s been actively testing for three weeks, hasn’t shown any drift issues so far – they’ve stayed absolutely zero even when he tried the same calibration checker featured in a couple of Reddit videos.
LED has already committed To offer parts for Steam Deck at some point — including thumb sticks — so if you see stick drift on your deck and this hotfix update doesn’t address it, you’ll eventually be able to swap out the parts yourself. It will be iFixit An authorized seller of Steam Deck parts, although it’s still unclear when or how much you’ll actually be able to purchase.
Unfortunately, if you’re experiencing a Steam Deck drift right now, you can’t buy a replacement part for yourself. But an influencer on Reddit put together a guide about How do you calibrate the joystick dead zone In the device settings, which can be a short-term solution.
Update March 1st at 8:36 PM ET: Valve says it shipped a drift stick fix, so we’ve updated the article and title.