Overwatch 2 Removing Phone Number Requirement for Some Players

gamerant.com:

Overwatch 2 is removing the phone number requirement for a large batch of its player base, but it seems like there's a catch in place to this side-stepping of the SMS Protect service. Specifically, players currently need to own a text-enabled mobile phone in order to play Blizzard's latest flagship release, which is said to be in place to better protect the community from cheaters and other malicious elements.

The issue with Overwatch 2's SMS Protect service, however, is that it does not support prepaid phone plans nor VoIP numbers, and users cannot rely on iMessage and WhatsApp to complete this part of the activation process, either. This led to widespread criticism from players whose mobile devices might not support the specific SMS protection implementation that Blizzard has envisioned for the game.

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Now, however, Blizzard has announced that a substantial number of previous Overwatch players won't need to activate SMS Protect in Overwatch 2 at all. Namely, Blizzard has announced that it's going to remove the phone number requirement for any existing Overwatch player with a connected Battle.net account. Specifically, this means that anybody who's played Overwatch before June 9 will no longer need to use SMS Protect to access Overwatch 2 services, according to Blizzard, with the change going live on Friday, October 7.

The game's implementation of SMS Protect was a major issue for Overwatch 2, as not only did many players not fit its requirements, but it also doesn't seem to have worked in some instances, not allowing players access to a game they had been hoping to play. The catch, of course, is that new accounts will still need to use SMS Protect in its