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Overwatch 2 phone requirement is being removed for existing players following intense backlash. In case you weren’t affected by the SMS Protect system and haven’t been keeping up, Overwatch 2 launched with a plethora of problems – including but not limited to – players not receiving SMS messages in order to register, and in a more egregious case, not being allowed to register simply because they had prepaid phone plans. Following a day or two of criticism, the developer has partially backtracked and offered an apology.
Who does the Overwatch 2 phone requirement apply to?
The Overwatch 2 SMS requirement will still be in place, but only for those who are registering new accounts or those who didn’t link their existing accounts to Battle.net. So if you are one of the older Overwatch players who stopped playing at some point and did not connect your account to Battle.net, the phone requirement will still apply to you. Anyone who has played Overwatch since as recently as June 9, 2021, will not have to provide a phone number to play. This change will be reflected by Friday, October 7th, according to Blizzard.
Unfortunately, since SMS Protect is still in place, this means that folks with prepaid phone plans will still be locked out regardless of whether they’re genuine players or not.