My pro PS5 controller just got stick drift after 5 years, and I'm basically in mourning

Who remembers the heady days of the PS5's launch? I know I do, since I spent that period of lockdown acting as a sort of fixer for most of my mates, using my slightly more online nature to secure as many pre-orders as I could so that we all got consoles. At the same time, my role in tech journalism meant that I was able to test a bunch of accessories out early doors.

That meant plenty of the best gaming headsets in the early days of the PS5, but also some excellent controllers, and I found my favourite almost instantly. Right after the console came out, Scuf started making adapted DualSense controllers, and I got my hands on a Reflex Pro, a gorgeous bit of gaming hardware.

This was the DualSense Edge, a couple of years before Sony made its own pro controller, and it meant that I've been using back-paddles for around five years, at this point. They're a huge help in online FPS games in particular, I find, helping me to keep my fingers on the aiming stick while I reload or jump.

That's made it feel almost like a minor bereavement that, in the last few weeks, my Reflex Pro has started to feel a bit weird in the hand. Movement in games has felt looser than usual, and I recently upped my deadzone settings in Rocket League to the point where it feels like I'm driving in treacle.

To the surprise of nobody at all, when I swapped back to the near-pristine standard DualSense that came with my PS5 Pro last year, barely used because it's paddle-free, these issues evaporated. There's only one conclusion: stick drift has finally come for my pro controller.

It's a spectre that's loomed over way too many first-party gaming controllers from the last couple of console generations, but I'll be honest – I normally dodge the bullet. I don't know if it's because I'm a light touch on the sticks (ahem), but I've never even had a Joy-Con give out, despite knowing people who seem to go through a controller every six months.

I'm still lucky that I've got a backup standard controller waiting to be used, and I'll be fine with it, but it's already proving an adjustment to play without those all-important paddles, or indeed the extra grip on the back of the controller.

If money were no object, I'd be straight out to get a DualSense Edge, since I've still never managed to get my hands on one and I'm pretty sure it's the best of all worlds in terms of what I want. Sadly, money very much is an immovable object, so for now I'm back to the life of the hoi-polloi, and I'll be in mourning for at least a few weeks.