Do Mouse Pads Affect Gameplay?

PC gaming requires concentration, attention to detail, and lots and lots of practice. If you really want to play at a competitive level, however, you’re going to want to have the right gaming hardware. For many FPS fans, this means having a quality mouse and keyboard, headphones, gaming monitor, and high-end GPU.

Even with all of these elements in place, you still may be missing one key component – a quality mouse pad. While your gaming mouse sensitivity might be optimized for perfect tracking and aim, without the right mouse pad, the best mouse in the world isn’t going to make a difference.

Why Your Mouse Pad Matters

When using your mouse for everyday computer functions like browsing the web, your mouse serves as a tool to select and move items on the screen. When used in this way, a mouse pad doesn’t matter as much since timing and precision aren’t as important.

When you’re gaming, a slightly uneven surface on your mouse pad could send your crosshair off target, even if just by a few pixels. This can be the difference between making the round-winning shot and not.

How Your Mouse Pad Affects Sensitivity

Your mouse pad can also affect your gaming mouse sensitivity. Gaming mice are designed to be very precise in how they reflect a tracking surface back to your gaming rig. A mouse pad that is constructed of low-quality materials may reflect back poorly and send jagged, jarring bursts of data. This can cause a very sensitive mouse to experience jitters and jumps on your screen, leading to poor control and performance.

Do I Need an Expensive Mouse Pad?

Although your choice of mouse pad can greatly affect your gaming performance and experience, this doesn’t mean that you need to spend a fortune on a gaming mouse pad. Plenty of mid-tier mouse pads will work perfectly in a gaming environment. What you should avoid, however, are mouse pads made with many different colors and textures. These elements can throw off a sensitive optical gaming mouse easily.

Author Resource:-

Jeson Clarke writes about games, digital training and FPS aim training. You can find his thoughts at kovaak platform blog.