Overwatch 2 requires players to link a phone number to their Battle.net account in order to play, a new requirement that wasn’t detailed in a recent Blizzard blog post announcing the change. Now Blizzard is detailing why the new SMS Protect requirement is needed, and it largely comes down to fighting cheaters.
When Overwatch 2 arrives on October 4, all players, even those who bought the original Overwatch and those who play on consoles, will need to link a phone number to their Battle.net account in order to play. The same phone number cannot be used for multiple accounts and Blizzard does not accept prepaid and VOIP numbers.