Blizzard axes Overwatch 2 phone number requirement in update on game’s rocky launch
Blizzard’s launch of Overwatch2 on Tuesday did not go as planned. Many players who attempted to play the revamped Overwatch experienced long queue times, were subjected to server errors, were disconnected from games, and had progress and items not carry over from the original game — that is, if they could connect to Blizzard’s game servers at all. On Wednesday evening, Blizzard apologized for the state of Overwatch 2’s launch and announced a major policy change: It will no longer require a phone number to be attached to a Battle.net account for “a majority of existing Overwatch players.”
“We have made the decision to remove phone number requirements for a majority of existing Overwatch players,” the Overwatch team said in a post on Blizzard’s forums. “Any Overwatch player with a connected Battle.net account, which includes all players who have played since June 9, 2021, will not have to provide a phone number to play.”
Blizzard said it plans to change the phone number requirement for Overwatch 2 for existing players by Friday.
Despite lifting the phone number requirement for much of its player base, an initiative it called SMS Protect, the developer “remain[s] committed to combating disruptive behavior in Overwatch 2” and noted that “accounts that were not connected to Battle.net as well as new accounts will still have to meet SMS Protect requirements, which helps to ensure we’re protecting our community against cheating. If a player is caught engaging in disruptive behavior, their account may be banned whether they have a new account or not.”
Blizzard’s decision to require a phone number for Overwatch 2 — and further restrictions about which types of phone numbers would meet its requirements — was a controversial one.
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