Wolfenstein
The "Wolfenstein" series of video games started with the 1981 stealth-adventure video game "Castle Wolfenstein". It was developed by American programmer Silas Warner, a pioneer in the early eras of video gaming, especially the stealth genre. It was published by his (then) company M.U.S.E. Inc. (Muse Software). The player controls an unnamed American prisoner of war as he steals war files containing information about secret German war plans while avoiding or sometimes killing guards, and tries to escape the fortified Nazi stronghold Castle Wolfenstein, set during World War II. The game is often credited as one of the first video games of the stealth genre, since it focuses more on avoiding or disarming enemies, and killing them is considered a last resort.
Arrow keys
The style was popularized in competitive play in "Quake" and subsequently "QuakeWorld", notably by professional gamer Dennis Fong, where the advantages of WASD and mouselook were recognised over a purely keyboard-based control system. In the same year that "Castle Wolfenstein" was released, 1981, the game "Wizardry" used the AWD keys for movement in a 3D dungeon. Both the programmers of "Castle Wolfenstein" and "Wizardry" were users of the earlier PLATO system where the game "Moria" used the AWD keys.