Steam Deck Update Fixes One of Its Biggest Issues

By Tanner Dedmon

Valve's new Steam Deck system is now in the hands of many who were in the first round of pre-orders and has been received well so far, but it wasn't without issues. Namely, some people reported their devices suffered from one of the most common problems to affect new consoles and controllers: Drifting thumbsticks. People shared evidence of this happening after they tested out the Steam Decks and noticed cursors and camera views moving without them doing anything, but that problem has apparently already been fixed.

Lawrence Yang, a Valve designer who worked on shipping the Steam Deck, commented on the stick drift issue this week after users first started talking about the problem. People were wondering if they'd have to send in their Steam Deck units to have them repaired or replaced by Valve which would naturally mean having to wait quite a while longer to actually use the Steam Deck unless a replacement was given out immediately, but it looks like people won't have to worry about that. Yang said that the issues reported were a result of a deadzone regression from a past update and that a fix for the problem has already been released for users to download.

After doing so, it reasons that you shouldn't have as many drift problems, if any. The fact that it was a deadzone problem and not an issue with the physical aspects of the Steam Deck meant that the fix was able to be released quickly as opposed to lengthy repair times.

Those repair and replacement wait times are what we've seen with other problematic devices like the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Con controllers and the Nintendo Switch Lite where people often had to send in their consoles if they wanted to have the problem resolved. Warranties, the risk of receiving another faulty unit and other considerations made that a frustrating process for Nintendo users as well as those who experienced drift on things like the PlayStation 5's new DualSense controller, so the Steam Deck's fix is a pretty convenient one by comparison even if the problem might've put a damper on new buyers' reactions.

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