When Overwatch 2 arrives on October 4, you’ll need a phone number associated with your account to start the game. The news was announced Tuesday in a blog post from developer Blizzard, detailing several systems, collectively known as Defense Matrix, that implement the free-to-play game, all aimed at improving security and in-game experience.
The blog post states that Overwatch 2 is adding SMS Protect to help with account verification issues and banning disruptive players. Free-to-play games sometimes suffer from higher percentages of cheaters, so-called smurfs (skilled players who intentionally lose matches so they can play at lower skill levels) and other disruptive players when there are no barriers to entry. Adding phone numbers is one way to block those types of players.
“The same phone number cannot be used on multiple accounts at the same time and players cannot use the same phone number to create multiple accounts,” Blizzard said in the blog post. “A phone number can only be used once when creating a new account, and certain types of numbers, including prepaid and VOIP, cannot be used for SMS Protect.”
The restriction on prepaid phone plans can be a problem for many players: 38% of US adults between the ages of 18 and 29 have a prepaid plan, according to YouGov data.
The addition of SMS Protect and other changes are meant to keep bad actors out of the game, but some of them – especially the new user experience – are a fundamental shift in the gaming experience, akin to locking in new heroes in the battle pass.
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Changes to the first user experience
The original Overwatch took you through a short mechanical tutorial, then threw you into the chaos of maps and game modes and various heroes. Overwatch 2 seems to be taking a much more deliberate approach.
“The first phase of our new [first-time-user experience] quickly unlocks all game modes and the ability to chat in-game, and the second phase unlocks all original Overwatch heroes over the course of approximately 100 matches,” the post says. “This focused experience facilitates new players in the world of Overwatch by teach them about different modes, rules, and other high-level aspects of the game in an accessible way.”
Since Quick Play matches generally last 5 to 15 minutes, that’s a big investment of time for new players to unlock each hero and game mode. But if you’re concerned that you haven’t unlocked the correct heroes or game modes by the time you group up with some of your friends who have been playing Overwatch for a while, the blog post states that most restrictions are lifted while you’re in a group. sit.
The notable exception is the competitive mode, where a player must win 50 Quick Play matches to unlock it, regardless of whether you’re in a group. This requirement is meant to give new players enough time to get used to the game before joining the competitive environment, and it also gives the game more matchmaking data about the player.
It also aims to keep disruptive players out of the game, according to the blog post: “Disruptive players can’t immediately affect the larger community, with things like voice chat and match chat unlocking later in FTUE. Brand new accounts created by cheaters or disruptive players will all have to play this experience, which gives us a chance to identify suspicious accounts before moving to other game modes.”
read more: The crazy Overwatch 2 beta is a step in the right direction
Other Overwatch 2 Changes
The blog post mentions a few other in-game systems that the Overwatch team is changing for the launch of Overwatch 2:
- Expansion of the tools used to detect disruptive behavior, including the use of temporary audio transcripts sometime after launch.
- Recommendations have only one category and can only be given to teammates.
- Prematch screens in Competitive modes will no longer display player ranks.
- A new ping system allows players to communicate more effectively in-game without having to be in voice chat.
- General chat will be removed (but match, team and group chats will remain available).
For more information about Overwatch 2, visit the new support hero Kirikoand our impressions of the beta.
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