Seeking Help – Keyboard “W” Key Issue Causing Movement Problems in Valorant

[Obx4l]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for help regarding a strange keyboard/input issue I’m facing on my HP laptop that’s affecting gameplay in Valorant.

For some time now, I’ve been experiencing a walking/movement issue in Valorant where my character randomly stops while moving forward. It’s not constant, but it happens often enough to make competitive matches unplayable. I contacted Valorant Customer Support, and they suggested switching to an Ethernet connection, but the issue still persists.

What’s interesting is that over the last 2 days, I’ve noticed something new:
When typing normally in places like Google Docs, or other text fields, words that contain the letter “W” sometimes don’t register properly. For example:

• Typing “what” sometimes becomes “hat”

• The “W” key doesn’t always register, but it’s inconsistent

This typing issue doesn’t happen as frequently as it does in Valorant, but it seems related. In-game, when I hold W to walk forward, it feels like the key briefly stops registering, causing my character to stop moving.

Things I’ve already tried:

• Reinstalling keyboard drivers via Device Manager

• Restarting the system

• Testing network (Wi-Fi vs Ethernet)

• Valorant works fine in Practice Mode sometimes, but the issue mostly appears in real matches

At this point, I’m trying to figure out:

• Is this a hardware keyboard issue?

• Could it be an HP driver/firmware problem?

• Or something related to Windows input handling?

If anyone has faced a similar issue or has suggestions (BIOS update, keyboard diagnostics, HP tools, etc.), I’d really appreciate the help.

Thanks in advance!

[Venom21]

It's likely hardware related issue. To confirm, get external keyboard and use it. If it work properly then you should visit hp service center for keyboard repair if you want. They handle warranty checks (free if eligible). 

Manually ordering and replacing keyboard is also an option but that depends on you if you can do it properly or not. If under warranty then avoid it or in case you have no experience on it.