Valve responded quickly to reports of stick drift on its new handheld, the Steam Deck. Apparently, the problem was caused by a software issue that has now been patched.
Multiple reports about the Steam Deck stick drift problem emerged on Reddit, sparking concern from basically everyone who’s encountered similar problems with Nintendo’s Switch console (Joy-Con drift strikes again). However, unlike the Switch, it seems the Steam Deck’s problem has a simple fix.
According to a tweet from Valve designer Lawrence Yang, a “deadzone regression” caused the stick drift problem. A recent firmware update should address the bug, however:
Hi all, a quick note about Steam Deck thumbsticks. The team has looked into the reported issues and it turns out it was a deadzone regression from a recent firmware update. We just shipped a fix to address the bug, so make sure you’re up to date.
— Lawrence Yang (@lawrenceyang) March 2, 2022
Video Games Chronicle (VGC) noted that the update appears to work, highlighting that some Reddit users who posted about stick drift said the problem was resolved.
Previously, Valve hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat told IGN that Valve was working to avoid issues like stick drift with the Steam Deck. Although this particular issue was caused by software, hopefully, Valve’s efforts will minimize hardware-based drift going forward. Unfortunately, only time will tell if the Steam Deck’s sticks are reliable.
Source: Lawrence Yang (Twitter), Reddit, (2) Via: VGC
