Wooting introduces 'game-breaking' SOCD keyboard feature labelled 'basically cheating' by angry gamers

Razer recently introduced Snap Tap mode on its Huntsman V3 Pro keyboards with analogue optical key switches, causing quite a stir in the competitive gaming space. Following shortly on the heels of Razer's announcement, Wooting introduced SOCD — its own spin on the controversial feature with a more transparent naming strategy. 

In short, SOCD and Snap Tap both allow gamers to customise how the keyboard and computer react when two inputs are pressed simultaneously. When configured correctly, this allows gamers to reproduce tactics — like rapid strafing in games like Counter Strike — with little to no skill required. Both Razer and Wooting allow for extensive customisation of the feature, allowing gamers to set which key should be prioritised when there are two simultaneous inputs. 

The lowering of this skill ceiling has earned both Razer and Wooting the ire of some gaming communities, with many calling the new features cheating. In a recent post on X, the official account for the rhythm game Osu! directly called out Wooting for adding SOCD to its keyboard, going so far as to say that the feature may end up getting Wooting keyboards banned from the game altogether. 

In a rather lengthy response (which you can read below), Wooting acknowledged that some may consider SOCD cheating, but that the keyboard maker effectively owed it to its users to implement the feature — and not only because Wooting posted a poll the day before, which resulting in an overwhelming “yes” vote from the community. Wooting also argued that not adding SOCD to its keyboards was a disservice to professional gamers using its keyboards to earn a living, essentially putting the blame on Razer for opening the floodgates with Snap Tap. 

Part of the issue gamers and software developers have with both Razer's and Wooting's implementations of SOCD is that it essentially amounts to a keyboard macro, and macros are largely banned in competitive gaming. 

Perhaps predicting the gaming community's backlash to SOCD, Wooting has released SOCD as an optional beta feature in its Wooting configuration software. It also managed to make SOCD work on all of its current and previous keyboards, including the original Wooting One keyboard, which launched a whopping seven years ago. 

Razer's Snap Tap, on the other hand, is only available on the latest Huntsman V3 Pro series keyboards (from $179.99 for the Razer V3 Pro Mini on Amazon).