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A class action lawsuit claiming the Xbox Elite controller suffers from a “drift” will reportedly be moved to arbitration and likely settled outside of the courtroom.
A year ago, Microsoft was hit with legal action claiming it failed to fix a defect in the Xbox Elite controller that causes it to drift, or move on the gamer’s screen uncontrollably. Drifts make it very difficult to play video games using these pricey systems and Microsoft is not the only game maker to be hit with legal action over drifts.
Indeed, class action lawsuits have been filed over an alleged PlayStation 5 drift and Joy-Con drift in recent months.
The Xbox drift class action lawsuit claimed that Microsoft had known of the issues with its Elite controller since at least 2014. The complaint claimed that the problem was due to a design flaw in the potentiometer. The lawsuit alleged that, had consumers been aware of the drift, they would not have purchased the Xbox Elite controller.
Microsoft urged the court hearing the class action to send the claims to arbitration and, according to recent reports, the software giant appears to have been successful.
One of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs told The Loadout that arbitration generally means the “end of the road” for class action lawsuits.
Indeed, arbitration is a determination process that takes place outside of court. Parties who participate in arbitration agree that a neutral decision-maker will make a binding determination in the case.
Most major companies include arbitration clauses in their contracts, user agreements, or terms of service. Many companies attempt to dodge legal action by compelling arbitration; however, arbitration does not always mean that the company wins. In certain scenarios, individuals can recover more in arbitration than they would in a class action settlement.
Further, consumers who only recently purchased an Xbox Elite controller with a drift problem may be able to opt-out of Microsoft’s arbitration clause, but only if they send an opt-out letter within 30 days of first using the product.
Do you own an Xbox? Have you experienced controller drift? Tell us about it in the comment section below!
The plaintiff is represented by Cindy Heidelberg of Breskin Johnson & Townsend, PLLC, and Nicholas A. Migliaccio and Jason S. Rathod of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP.
The Xbox Controller Drift Class Action Lawsuit is McFadden v. Microsoft Corporation, Case No. 2:20-cv-00640-MAT in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
- Nintendo Switch Controller Drift Claims To Be Arbitrated
- Nintendo Switch Class Action Says Joy-Con Controllers Are Defective
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44 thoughts onArbitration in Xbox ‘Drift’ Class Action
I just had a lengthy chat this morning with someone on the hardware team. This was after at least an hour of waiting, redirecting me and 2 representatives just blatantly hung up on me since they clearly couldn’t handle my predicament. I had been waiting a month for Microsoft to follow up with me on a ticket that was created May 29th, and I sent an email follow up on July 12, but haven’t had 3 hours set aside until today, so I could spend the focused time to fight for my case. When I finally got hold of the person on the hardware team, I was told the same thing I keep being told: your product is out of warranty so the only option is to send it for repair which will cost another $80. My controller is a Design Lab Series X/S custom controller with my initials on it, and I spent over $100 on it originally. I got another regular Series X/S controller for my brother and we ended up having the exact same stick drift issue occur around the same time, after their warranties were up. It occured some time before their respective 2-year marks. The issue is isolated to the left toggle, only on vertical movement, not horizontal, for both controllers. We both take very good care of our controllers and the odd times we would travel with them, keep them in a safe cushioned compartment. I have never had an issue with any other Xbox controller and my Xbox Original AND 360 controllers all still function correctly. This is not coincidental, it’s unquestionably a manufacturer error. It’s terrible to me that the class action got bullied out of pursuing it any further, thus eliminating setting a precedent for those who weren’t aware and purchased this generation of controllers after the fact. This is beyond corrupt. Even just the fact that these controllers only have a 6 month warranty is blatantly shady and is a testament to the confidence these scumbags have in their own shoddy manufacturing. I’m extremely disgusted at how I’ve been treated, especially as my brother and I have been loyal Xbox fans for almost 20 years. I really wish there was still some way I could fight this, but alas all I can do now is spread my complaints to anyone who will read. I could cut my losses if I didn’t put so much care into the design of the controller, but it’s something I take pride in and I don’t know what to do with it now. It’s not easy to part ways with a platform you’ve stuck with for so long, but this is unacceptable and they’ve pushed me too far and lost my business.
Microsoft has done nothing to resolve this problem, controllers are still failing with the same issue and the company continues to extort “repair fees” from customers for a manufacturing-created problem. It is time to either reopen or file a new class action suit because they have not taken any remedial action.
If it’s possible I would love to learn if I am able to become a part of this I switched to Xbox when I was 14 years ago and for the past 6-7 years I’ve had to buy a new controller for the stick drift specifically every 7-8 months if I can afford it at the time and I always went for the more expensive elite over the pro option because I was under the impression it was a better more well built version of their controllers I literally just learned about this lawsuit for the first time about 10 minutes ago from a random YouTube video where the creator just happened to mention at the end of a video talking about the problem that causes drifting in the controller itself
Add me. I have had to buy a new controller every 6 months since I have owned my Xbox one. At close to $100 each this is crazy.
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Is this really over? I got mine the beginning of 2022 and it died very soon after. I got a replacement with the warranty but the replacement as died as well.
Never got an email sent
Add me please got 2 in 2015
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