Why is WASD the Standard for Gaming
And why not any of the countless other combinations?
Nowadays it’s an obvious and very normal thing that WASD is the standard for gaming. You will use W to move forwards, S to do so backward, and A and D to move left and right, respectively. There are countless combinations out there to use instead of WASD, but why does the standard setup of almost every game use WASD?
The Past
Long ago, when gaming was new and totally not mainstream yet, there was no such standard combination. Every game had its own controls. Most games used the arrow keys to move. In those games, the mouse didn’t have a major function. Right-handed people mainly controlled the arrow keys with their right hand.
Then in 1997, a new game was released, called Quake. Quake was an innovative game for its time, in the sense that it gave a major function to the mouse. You could now look around with the mouse, and it became such an important feature that people started using their left hand to control the arrow keys. But this wasn’t convenient.
The Rise of WASD
More and more people were encountering the issue, as more and more games used the mouse to move and look around. People changed their settings, and eventually, new games started using WASD as their standard moving keyboard combination. There isn’t an obvious reason that eventually WASD became the standard instead of any other combination. Most likely, those keys are at the far left of the keyboard is one reason. How much farther left, how more comfortable for your hands. And the ALT and CTRL keys were often used controls too, the WASD keys are near those keys, which made using those keys easier.
Left-Handed
Around 10% of the world population is left-handed. Most left-handed people use their mouse with their left hand. Just try using your mouse with your left hand for a minute if you’re right-handed, it will not be easy! If you use your mouse with your left hand, it is very cramped to also use the WASD keys. Some lefties change their moving keys to the arrows, IJKL, or another combination on the right side of the keyboard. This is of course not optimal since the CTRL and ALT keys are now again far away from your hand.
Is there a Better Combination?
Some people argue ESDF would be a better key-combination to use for gaming. But for most people, continuing to use WASD would probably the easiest thing. We are all used to it now, why would we change it?
