The company was accused of punishing the poor.
The Overwatch 2 launch was (and still is) rocky, with players having to wait in long queues just to enter the game and then being thrown out by the overwhelmed system right in the middle of the round. A DDoS attack the very first day also didn't make it look pretty. What's more, the phone verification system introduced right before the launch, isn't working for some players in the USA.
What was meant to fight cheaters (and probably limit smurfs) now brings Blizzard even more problems: the company is being accused of punishing the poor. The verification system doesn't allow prepaid phone plans, and they are often used by those who can't afford a phone contract. “It feels like being punished for being poor,” one player told Kotaku.
Responding to the backlash, Blizzard decided to ditch the phone requirement for most users:
"We have made the decision to remove phone number requirements for a majority of existing Overwatch players. 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."
The company remains "committed to combating disruptive behavior in Overwatch 2 – 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."
With this issue settled, Blizzard is now working on the server and queue problems to improve stability. It's patched a server "that is critical to the login experience" and is preparing another server update that will reduce the occurrences of players being disconnected.
Find out more in Blizzard's announcement here and don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
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