Astro Bot is exposing stick drift for some gamers

Astro Bot is drawing in a giant crowd on the PS5, which is great news for PlayStation aside from one detail: Gamers are seeing just how bad their DualSense’s stick drift is.

As hype for Astro Bot has drummed up, quite a few people have decided to finally make their way through Astro’s Playroom. @CoreyHikari on X shares that the title “is a great way to see your stick drift.” A lot of gamers seem to agree, including one who noticed how awful his drift was after hitting the crash site in Astro Bot. In this way, the Astro games are a bit of a double-edged sword.

Got drift?

Everyone seems to be having a blast playing through Astro Bot. However, if your DualSense controller is busted, it may put a damper on things. One of the biggest features of the Astro Bot games is finding unique ways to emphasize that controller. Critics are finding it to be one of the most charming aspects of the game. Astro Bot offers a spin on motion controls and player interaction that other games on the PS5 simply haven’t implemented. For the simplest of sequences, the controller and any inputs are on full display. Entering and exiting a level on the DualSense Glider shows off everything the controller has going on.

For people who have burned through a lot of games with their controllers, the wonder that this can bring out might be lost. Some gamers have quote-reposted @CoreyHikari’s post discussing the severity of their own stick drift. Others mentioned it alongside Nintendo’s Joy-Con drift problem. Some feel as though they have never noticed drift this much until this generation (Anyone still rocking a GameCube controller for Smash Bros gameplay may be able to testify that this isn’t a new problem). 

Will drift ever get fixed?

Perhaps one reason players are so caught off guard is because of the money and presentation that goes into these controllers. As of September 2024, a fresh pair of Joy-Cons or a brand-new DualSense will run you approximately $70 in most places. Nintendo and PlayStation both heavily advertised the advanced nature of these products as their respective consoles were introduced. It feels kind of like a slap in the face that something so premium might be so faulty. Sony doesn’t appear to have it nearly as bad as Nintendo yet. Nintendo has been taken to court over the matter, and the issue has gotten so bad the company has been offering free JoyCon repairs. Whether Sony gets to that point depends on how soon it handles the issue.

For some, the fix is the DualSense Edge, which allows stick modules to be swapped. For other systems, companies like 8BitDo offer hall-effect controllers. Hall-effect employs magnets for stick sensors with the aim of eliminating drift. This could be the standard in the future, but right now, hall-effect joysticks just seem to make things more expensive. Whether Sony and Nintendo take care of their growing drift problem is up to them. Still, it would help endear the gamers who recognize how much pricier it can make the hobby.