League of Legends is testing a new WASD control scheme, 16 years in

Riot Games is going to slowly introduce a WASD-based control scheme to League of Legends, which previously relied on point and click controls. “We believe that offering WASD controls will provide a fresh yet familiar way to play for both new players and veterans of the Rift without changing what makes League, League,” Riot says.

The company notes that WASD is “the most familiar control scheme for PC games today,” and by adding it as a control option, “we believe League will feel more intuitive to some players who come from other games.” However, Riot is also working to “ensure competitive balance” between the two different control styles, so it’s going to start with a test of the control scheme on League’s public beta environment before slowly rolling it out to non-ranked and eventually ranked and pro play.

League of Legends launched nearly 16 years ago, and while it’s a hugely popular game, it has a reputation for being pretty intimidating to get into. Despite having watched many hours of competitive League, whenever I’ve tried to play it myself, I’ve quickly bounced because of its complexity. WASD controls could lower the barrier to entry, and Riot says that they are “the first of a number of long-term projects we’re working on to help shape League’s future.”