Is a phone number for Overwatch 2 necessary for Blizzard?

To put it mildly, Overwatch 2's debut was a complete nightmare, complete with long Overwatch 2 queues, server problems, and login failures. To make matters worse for gamers, certain users of Blizzard's Battle Net login system are required to provide a phone number, which many find a bit strange.

Although Blizzard took some time to clarify the Overwatch 2 phone number requirement, the developer's motivation for doing so is revealed in a recent interview with Forbes. Lead software developer Bill Warnecke said, "In the past, accounts were tied to a box price, so there was some sort of investment from a player into an account in order to obtain it."

"With the release of Overwatch 2, free-to-play replaces the original box pricing. The fundamental concept of SMS Protect is to invest on behalf of the account holder and impose certain constraints on the use of the account. There are no loopholes or exceptions in the system.

Is a phone number required to play Overwatch 2?

Unless you already played the first game, you do indeed need a phone number to play Overwatch 2. The necessity for an Overwatch 2 phone number is exclusive to new players.

Why is a phone number required for Overwatch 2?

Overwatch 2's phone number requirement, as explained by Bill Warnecke, is designed to prevent cheaters from using numerous accounts to take advantage of workarounds and get the upper hand. His justification is given below.

"SMS Protect concentrates a little bit on the dishonest gamers and those who are prepared to cycle through a large number of accounts and utilise cheats. We are actively searching for players who exhibit unusual gaming, stand out in terms of gameplay behaviour, or who are identified by any cheat fingerprints we may create.

"However, no amount of detection in the world will be able to prevent us from removing dishonest players from the game if that person has their account banned and can just re-join with a new one. For such gamers, we must raise the price of willingness to cheat a little bit. Compared to Overwatch 1, losing an account has far worse consequences.

That sounds reasonable enough to me, but even so, you should consider the phone number need of Overwatch 2 before beginning the game. Check out our guides forOverwatch 2 characters,Overwatch 2 maps, andOverwatch 2 skins to be ready if you're okay with it.