Yes, if a joystick uses friction-based materials, they are going to wear out over some time and need to be disposed of and replaced. I suppose the issue is that manufacturers would just love to sell you more replacements. I would be prepared to spend a bit more on an item that is good quality and will last a few years longer.
The fix shows here is to yank the potentiometers off a PS4 joystick and replace them with contactless Hall effect sensors. The end of the shaft for each axis gets a diametral neodymium magnet attached to it, while a 3D printed bracket holds a tiny custom PCB in close proximity. The PCB has an AS5600 Hall sensor, which translates the shaft angle to an analogue voltage output. After programming the chip over its I2C bus, the sensor outputs a voltage proportional to the angle of each shaft, just like the original pots, but without all the wear and tear.