The hype for Valve’s Steam Deck diminished to some degree after users reported multiple issues with the handheld gaming console, namely the fact that it’s already afflicted with the phenomenon known as stick drift. Now, a company technician has announced that a software update that came out earlier today is nipping the controversy in the bud by addressing the problem.
Due to its compatibility with the Linux OS, Steam Deck won’t support every game on Valve’s digital store, which is a bit disheartening for users who were looking forward to enjoying their extensive Steam library on the new portable console. In addition to that, many users have also reported stick drifting, which is when the analog stick moves on its own without player input.
A lot of folks took to social media to complain about the same problem, though many also made fun of Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons that have been experiencing this bug to no avail.
Naturally, it wasn’t long before memes looping Nintendo into the discussion started to surface.
Stick drifting is a common problem even for current ninth-generation controllers, but wear and tear can’t be the cause of the problem for a console that only came out yesterday. Indeed, it appears that the real culprit was a recent firmware update, which Valve has since dealt with by releasing another patch.
As product designer Lawrence Yang has announced, just make sure that your console is up to date and the analog sticks should be good to go:
This certainly won’t be the last of Steam Deck’s technical issues in the next few months, but at least now we know the company won’t have to deal with the logistical nightmare of changing the analog sticks for hundreds of thousands of already shipped consoles.