WASD movement in League of Legends? A small change with big implications

League of Legends could soon take a new direction, for those ready to change how they move through the game.

According to a recent leak from SkinSpotlights, Riot Games might be adding ‘WASD’ keyboard keys as a new control movement option in the game. This would be the first time in League of Legends’ long history that players could move their champions using the keyboard instead of the classic click-to-move style.

The leak also shows a few different settings tied to this new movement system. Flash, for example, has three options: Cursor, ‘WASD with Cursor Enhanced’ and ‘WASD with Cursor Fallback’. There also seems to be a toggle to let you smart cast abilities in the direction your champion is facing. 

League of Legends wouldn’t be the first MOBA to implement WASD movement. Some, like Smite, were built around it. According to most of its players, Smite’s WASD control option offers a more action-oriented experience, where movement and aiming are tightly linked.

If WASD movement becomes a thing, then the next step seems obvious. Controller support could be on the horizon, and that opens the door to something even bigger — League of Legends on console. For a game that’s been PC-only for over a decade, that would be a massive shift, and this might just be the first step.

At the moment, this is all still unofficial as Riot has not announced anything yet, but even as a leak, this has players thinking beyond the usual patch debates.

Esports Insider has reached out to Riot Games for a comment on the leaks and will update this article if a reply has been received. 

Absolutely nothing, the WASD movement addition would just be a new option for those who prefer it. That means longtime players don’t need to change a thing, while newcomers or players from other games might find it easier to jump in.

But despite this potentially being an optional feature, not everyone in the community is thrilled. Some players worry that WASD users could perform worse in matches and bring down team coordination.

Others think the clamour around the leak is an overreaction. To them, it’s just another way to play, not a new threat to their game style.