In April last year, Microsoft was hit with a class-action lawsuit over so-called Xbox controller drifting. Now the company is attempting to get the lawsuit out of the courts and into arbitration.
As VGC reports, Microsoft has filed a new motion in the case calling on the Washington Court to "compel arbitration." In other words, deny the plaintiffs a jury trial and force them to settle the dispute out of court using an impartial adjudicator. Microsoft believes it has a right to request this because each plaintiff agreed to the company's Services Agreement when choosing to purchase and use the controllers.
"Plaintiffs repeatedly agreed not to bring a lawsuit like this in court," Microsoft explained in the motion. "Instead, they assented to the Microsoft Services Agreement ('MSA') and to warranty agreements in which they promised they would arbitrate disputes on an individual basis using a consumer-friendly process before the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). The Federal Arbitration Act requires enforcing these agreements."
The class-action lawsuit was originally filed by Donald McFadden in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. McFadden owned two Xbox Elite controllers, both of which experienced analog stick drift within a few months of purchase. The lawsuit documents explain that within the stick, "the wiper component of the potentiometer scrapes resistive material off a curved track, resulting in unwanted electrical contact without input from the user," and that the fault has been present in controllers as far back as 2014. It isn't a problem you can fix with software or settings, a hardware repair is required.
In October, McFadden's complaint was amended to add seven more plaintiffs and a jury trial was demanded. Microsoft is attempting to avoid such a trial which could prove very expensive if it lost. The decision is in the hands of the Washington Court now, and whether it accepts Microsoft's argument that the plaintiffs agreed not to sue the company. Meanwhile, Nintendo will be keeping a close eye on what happens with this dispute.