Steam Deck Owners Are Already Reporting Joystick Drift

Despite releasing just three days ago, Steam Deck owners are already reporting serious hardware issues with their brand-new consoles, the most notable being joystick drift. Since February 25, two separate Reddit threads (here and here) have been created showcasing users with defective Steam Decks. In both instances, the console owners shared a video of their system’s right joystick experiencing substantial drift.

In the comments, the owners and several Reddit users have attempted to troubleshoot the issue. However, it seems the Steam Deck’s UI does not have an option to recalibrate the controls. Many have noted the problem might stem from a manufacturing issue with this particular batch of units, as reviews did not report issues with drift and all of the consoles just released to the public are a part of Steam’s “first quarter” launch. Several others urged the owners to contact Valve, Steam’s parent company, to either resolve the issue or replace the console. Neither of these users have reported the issues as resolved, though both have reportedly contacted the company seeking help for the issue.

However, some commenters were quick to suggest the owners merely replace the old joysticks with new ones. As the Steam Deck is a modular console, they are, reportedly, much simpler to repair than other handheld systems or controllers. However, if the issue ends up being a software issue rather than an apparent hardware one, this fix won’t actually resolve the issue. In addition, Valve has expressedly warned owners against tinkering with their Steam Decks, writing that doing so could “mess things up, like profoundly” and these actions should only be done if you “feel like taking big risks with your property, and with your life.”

When the Steam Deck is fully operational, however, GameSpot’s Steam Deck review praises it as “a wonderfully constructed and powerful portable PC that can, in the right hands, be a lot more than what Valve envisions.” As of right now, Valve is still working on shipping out the Steam Deck’s first-quarter units. There is no scheduled launch date for the second wave of systems.