Overwatch 2 contact number demand axed by Blizzard amidst tragic launch

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard’s launch of Overwatch 2 on Tuesday did not go as prepared. Many gamers that tried to play the overhauled Overwatch skilled lengthy line up times, underwent web server mistakes, were detached from games, and also had progression and also things not rollover from the initial game — that is, if they can attach to Blizzard’s game web servers in any way. On Wednesday night, Blizzard excused the state of Overwatch 2’s launch and also introduced a significant plan modification: It will certainly no more 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 claimed it intends to transform the contact number demand for Overwatch 2 for existing gamers by Friday.

Despite raising the contact number demand for much of its gamer base, an initiative it called SMS Protect, the programmer “remain[s] committed to combating disruptive behavior in Overwatch 2” and also kept in mind 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 choice to need a telephone number for Overwatch 2 — and also more constraints regarding which kinds of telephone number would certainly fulfill its demands — was a debatable one. Some gamers that had pre-paid mobile phone strategies located themselves shut out from having fun Overwatch 2, suggesting some clients that bought the initial Overwatch, which was changed by its follow up wholesale, can no more play their duplicate of the game. That problem was aggravated by the timing of Blizzard’s news of the plan: one week prior to Overwatch 2 released, and also well after the programmer began taking pre-orders for attachments for the game.

As for the standing of Overwatch 2’s online play, Blizzard claimed it’s still functioning to boost security for the game’s on the internet solution.

“Today we’ve patched a server that is critical to the login experience, and this change has increased login reliability,” the Overwatch group claimed. “Beyond queues, we’re in progress with another server update that will reduce the occurrences of players being disconnected once they’re already in game.”

Blizzard claimed it has “made changes to simplify the queuing process,” and also anticipates gamers to see even more structured line up times, and also is functioning to resolve gamers being gone down from lines.

In Wednesday night’s upgrade, Blizzard likewise dealt with troubles with account combining and also missing out on gamer things, and also improperly secured heroes, every one of which it claimed is being checked out and also worked with. Blizzard once more kept in mind that Overwatch 2’s launch concerns “were exacerbated by DDoS attacks,” which have actually obviously eased off because Tuesday.

Blizzard claimed updates will certainly be published on the authorities Overwatch Twitter account (and also most likely its online forums) as they can be found in.

 

Source: Polygon