Xbox controllers: Microsoft facing legal action for joystick malfunction – News

After the Joy-Con Drift, the Xbox Drift? A class action has recently been filed against Microsoft in the United States. In the viewfinder: the joystick problems that Xbox One controllers can experience.

The case is highlighted by the site VGC, which indicates having consulted several legal documents. The class action – which combines several individual complaints into a single trial – was filed on April 28 in Washington State on behalf of Donald McFadden. The latter explains having bought an Xbox Elite controller, sold for € 179.99, which presented problems of "drift" (ghost movement) of the joysticks after a few months of use. After replacing it, he encountered the same concern with his new controller "three or four months later". According to the complaint, this is not an isolated case : "a large number of consumers have complained about the" stick drift "on Xbox One controllers since at least 2014. (…) A simple Google search reveals many forums and messages dedicated to this subject", can we read.

Document says Microsoft is fully aware of the problem, but refuses to communicate on it and take charge of repairs when it occurs after the warranty has expired (90 days in the United States). The concern would come from a manufacturing defect of the potentiometer, a component which is used to translate the tilt of the joystick into an electrical impulse. The mobile part of the latter would wear out through use, sometimes resulting in electrical contact which results in the screen in an unwanted movement by the player, according to the complaint.

Last July, Nintendo was the subject of a similar lawsuit in the United States concerning the Joy-Con of the Switch. The firm then offered free out-of-warranty repairs in the land of Uncle Sam, before doing the same in France. It remains to be seen whether the outcome will be the same in the case of Microsoft. Remember that in France, it is possible to implement the legal guarantee of conformity within two years of purchase (or delivery) if the product you have purchased is malfunctioning.