Overwatch 2: excluding prepaid numbers was probably a stupid idea

In the fight against cheaters and toxic players, Blizzard uses their so-called “Defense Matrix” in Overwatch 2. Among other things, some steps have been taken to encourage less toxicity, and Blizzard also wants to look at voice chat from reported players in the future. Additionally, players must now link their cell phone number to their Battle.net account in order to be able to log into the game at all. Such measures are no longer uncommon, and everyone should probably have two-factor authentication these days. Blizzard has probably fired up their games forge for this function, because as with so many innovations that the company has brought out over the past few years, there have also been massive problems with the required cell phone number.

Blizzard Removes SMS Protect Feature For “A Majority Of Players”

For one thing, each Battle.net account needed a separate cell phone number. Among other things Reddit therefore complained some users, that they don’t want to buy additional phones just to continue playing Overwatch with their family, for example. Also, and much worse, not every cell phone number could be used for this. In particular, users who used prepaid tariffs could not link their number to Battle.net in many cases. This, of course, became one quite large group of people excluded from the game, including not only people who do not want a tariff, but also those who simply cannot afford it.

Even if you bought the original Overwatch, you couldn’t enter Overwatch 2 without a valid cell phone number. The topic made the rounds very quickly on Reddit, with numerous posts from frustrated fans who don’t want to sign up for a whole new contract for a single game. Also, the fact that Blizzard has apparently forgotten that some households only have one cell phone number, but still like to play Overwatch together, caused displeasure among many players. In addition, the situation did not get any better because some prepaid tariffs work.

In the time since the launch, Blizzard has probably considered that, among other things, in the USA prepaid plans are becoming increasingly popularand according to Fierce Wireless in 2020 about 74 million prepaid users exist. The company has therefore decided to disable the SMS Protect feature “for the majority of existing Overwatch players”. Through a new updatescheduled for release on October 7th, Overwatch players with a connected Battle.net account will no longer need to enter their cell phone number to enter the game.

“We remain committed to eliminating disruptive behavior in Overwatch 2 – Accounts that weren’t connected to Battle.net, as well as new accounts, must still meet the SMS Protect requirements, which helps protect our community from cheaters. If a player is caught engaging in disruptive behavior, their account may be banned, whether they have a new account or not.”

Only the future will tell whether there are really any advantages in making a free-to-play game available only via a registered mobile phone number. However, it’s entirely possible that it’s too much hassle for new players to link their cell phone number to Battle.net just to try out Blizzard’s hero shooter.