Blizzard has made the announcement that allOverwatch 2players using a pre-paid mobile phone plan will now be able to register their numbers with the game’s SMS protect system, opening the game up to many more players than before. SMS protect has been a point of controversy among theOverwatch 2fanbase since it was first revealed prior to the game’s launch, as it prevented many players - includingOverwatchveterans - from playing the sequel.The SMS protect feature is just a part of Blizzard’s Defense Matrix initiative, which was conceived of as a way of reducing cheating, smurfing, and toxicity within the game’s player base. While it’s up for debate just how much of an impact the Defense Matrix has had on combating toxicity in particular, the SMS protect feature aims to use players' phone numbers to verify their accounts and prevent players from creating alternate accounts that could be used for cheating. Previously, players using a pre-paid plan from services such as Cricket would not be able to tie their phone number with their Battle.net account,effectively meaning that they couldn’t playOverwatch 2.RELATED:Blizzard Reveals Changes Coming to Overwatch 2 Battle Pass and Reward SystemBlizzard announced that the Defense Matrix would be expanded to accommodate players using pre-paid mobile plans for the SMS protect system. The update to the SMS protect system is expected to be complete and available to all players by the end of today, meaning that presumablyanyone with a phone number will now be able to playOverwatch 2, regardless of the type of service plan they have. Blizzard also made clear that it intends to continue to develop the Defense Matrix program and make adjustments to it as necessary, to ensure that its features are accessible to everyone.
Thisisn’t the first time that Blizzard has taken actionin response to this particular complaint from fans, as the studio previously took the measure of reducing the need for SMS authentication altogether for many accounts. This meant that players of the original game, provided that they had a Battle.net account and had played since at least June 9th of last year, would no longer need to authenticate their account with a phone number in order to play.
This is certainly a big step in the right direction forOverwatch 2, and should allow even more fans to enjoy the game than before. Thanks to its transition to a free-to-play title,Overwatch 2enjoyed a record high in terms of playersduring its first month, but a number of issues continue to challenge the developers as the game progresses with its first season. The delayed November balance patch brought nerfs to several of the game’s heroes, which has stoked quite a bit of controversy within the game’s community.
Overwatch 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
