WASD League of Legends reactions as feature launches on PBE

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 27/08/2025

Reactions to WASD League of Legends movement have steadily rolled in since the function rolled out on PBE (Public Beta Environment) on August 26th.   

Unsurprisingly, reactions are mixed as the prospect of such a significant change to League of Legends looms on the horizon.   

Is WASD League of Legends movement “broken”?

  Players were so eager to experience their first WASD League of Legends movement system in-game that some found PBE queue times longer than those for the standard game. As expected, players also immediately began discussing their opinions online after the PBE launch.  

Overall, opinions are mixed, but certainly lean heavily toward a more critical outlook. After all, League of Legends has had the same movement system for almost 16 years.

Any change is daunting. Adding WASD movement is undoubtedly one of the biggest changes in League of Legends History.  

One widespread comment is that the WASD League of Legends movement system is “broken,” in the sense that it is far too powerful for the game. Some players have fuelled this narrative, posting videos of dominating PBE plays. 

Continuous movement, combined with the right-click auto-attack, has proven strong in some early footage.    WASD controls also allow more effortless wiggle movement. This could potentially give WASD players an upper hand in dodging the attacks of opponents while still being able to return fire with ease. 

Encouraging new players vs “noob trapping”

  A key concern expressed on the League of Legends subreddit is that while encouraging new players through a smoother skill curve, WASD movement would result in “noob trapping.”  

“Noob trapping” refers to when new players utilise additional features to help adjust to gameplay. However, to end up “noob trapped,” they rely on these features too heavily. As a result, new players can become trapped in lower ranks.   

This effect has been observed with features like the locked camera mode. One Redditor explained that he observed his friend learn with a locked camera.   

According to the comment, the friend in question was stuck in Gold rank for years, until he finally disabled the locked camera mode. Apparently, utilising the game’s full features resulted in the player rapidly ranking up to Diamond.   

Concerns have been expressed that after Riot Games developers balance the feature, preference for the traditional click-based movement will leave some new players unable to advance.   

Some players even believe that WASD League of Legends movement will deliberately be made worse than click-based movement to maintain the core identity of the game. 

However, attitudes towards the WASD League of Legends movement are not all negative.   

Some players expressed online that they want to try playing the game again after experiencing frustration with movement in previous attempts. Others believe WASD input opens the doors to more impressive and complex movement mechanics.   

Nevertheless, there are widespread concerns surrounding the ugly mess of balancing.   

Game balancing is already challenging in League of Legends, given the sheer volume of Champions, abilities, and draft compositions. Adding multiple movement inputs to that list may raise the bar beyond the reach of developers.   

When will WASD be available for ranked League of Legends?

  As per the Head of League studio at Riot Games, Andrei van Roon, WASD in ranked is still some distance away.   

The roadmap laid out so far starts with at least a month on PBE. Following this 1-2 month period, developers plan to integrate WASD League of Legends movement into unranked games.    However, this is still far closer than WASD ranked. WASD movement will remain in unranked games for several months before further implementation. 

Hannah Marie ZT, Senior Editor

Hannah is a journalist specialising in the esports, gaming, and technology sectors. Working for outlets such as Dot Esports, Esports Insider, and of course ENUK, she has developed a love for wider esports, Apex Legends, and advocating for women's esports initiatives. You may have seen her at various esports and gaming events, including ALGS LANs, ESI London, EGX, and watch parties.

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