Are Your DualShock 4 Sticks Wearing Away?

In the run up to launch, there was rumour that the DualShock 4 thumbsticks weren’t quite as durable as people had hoped. Pictures filtered out of well worn controllers from demo stations where the rubber texture to the left stick had been worn away.

Of course, at that time it was easy to shelve the discussion, with early production materials and hardware being used, and subject to a lot of abusive wear and tear from consoles being carted from one game show to another.

Two months since the initial launch and it’s not as easy to dismiss. There are reports and pictures from a wide range of people that have seen not just the texture being lost, but the outer layer itself being worn away to such a degree that it splits and breaks through to the main plastic underneath. Though my own controllers haven’t deteriorated to that degree, one of Peter’s has.

PeterDS4-IL

He’s quite bitter about this.

To try and see just how widespread an issue this really is, we’d like for you to share with us your own experience with the DualShock 4, and whether the analogue sticks are fit for purpose.

Just pop your answer down in the poll below, but also feel free give us a little more context in the comments below, and we’ll come back to the results some time next week.

59 Comments

  1. I’ve been on my ps4 everyday since launch for 1-3 hours a day and my controller is like new.

  2. If PS4 pads are showing any wear at this stage, with so few titles available, there should probably be a recall/ exchange program.

  3. No real sign of wear on mine, but the left stick rubber split last weekend I almost the same position as in the main photo on the article.

    Here’s mine: https://path.com/p/3D5tL

    Launch PS4, with probably around 90 hours of play in total….

    Spoke to Asda and the only way they’ll exchange is if I take the whole PS4 bundle back.

  4. Both my controllers are immaculate virtually like new with no wear on the sticks and I game a lot and on games like Battlefield and COD where your constantly pressing in L3,I’ve also used one more than the other and the only bit of wear is a miniscule bit to the sticker on the back but no issues with the sticks or anything.

  5. My red one does creak a bit on the left handle below my thunmbstick. It’s the only problem I’ve got not major at all.

  6. Looks like a bit of cost cutting gone awry.

  7. Luckily this hasn’t happened to me yet.

  8. Both the ones I’ve used have worn left sticks. I’ve not been aggressive with them either. Although mines are not as bad as pictured above, they are now pretty much smooth and slidy. Which is a bit frustrating. Especially since it’s £50 a controller.

    The R2 trigger broke off my first controller within the first 3 weeks. May have been coincidental, but it’s certainly obvious the DS4 isn’t as durable as the DS3.

  9. Both of mine seem fine so far, although having inspected them up close just now i did spot a really tiny nick in the rubber on the left stick of one of my pads. Hopefully it won’t get worse anytime soon.

  10. Mine’s as new, but it hasn’t seen extensive use yet. It’ll be interesting to see how it holds up in six months time. Could Sony be forced to improve the design?

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