Riot Unveils Major Upgrades to the WASD Control System — New Tools, Improvements, and Patch 25.24 Release Plans

Riot Games has presented a fresh look at the evolving WASD alternative control scheme (WASDI), showing just how far the system has come after months of testing on the PBE. According to the developers, over 100 bugs have already been fixed, including the widely discussed “nyny-bug.” Riot also highlighted how much player feedback contributed to identifying and reproducing these issues, thanking the community for its direct role in shaping the feature.

One of the standout additions is something almost no one expected: the option to move at a 45-degree angle with a single key. What started as a small suggestion from a Reddit user turned into a genuinely valuable accessibility feature, and Riot decided to fully integrate it. At the same time, the team has overhauled several gameplay systems to ensure WASD feels smooth and intuitive — minion pathing was refined, wall-sliding behavior was rebuilt, dynamic camera locking received an upgrade, and auto-attack handling was improved so the new scheme can compete with traditional click-to-move controls.

Another major improvement comes in the form of Scout Ahead, a new utility designed for map awareness. By simply holding the mouse wheel, players can temporarily unlock the camera and look anywhere on the map — checking side lanes, setting up rotations, or preparing for ganks. Once the button is released, the camera instantly snaps back to the player’s champion, ensuring it never disrupts gameplay flow. 🧭

All of these updates are set to debut in patch 25.24, where the WASD option will be accessible across all non-ranked modes, with the exception of Normal Draft. Riot made it clear that the system will not enter ranked queues yet, stressing that WASD needs to be “truly ready” — meaning no critical bugs, stable performance, fair competitive balance, and fully polished movement response. There’s still no confirmed date for when WASD will be allowed in ranked play, but the team plans to gather extensive live-server data after 25.24 goes live, which will speed up the final adjustments.