Overwatch 2 Will Tackle Smurfs By Making Players Connect A Mobile Number To Their Battlenet Account

Games Overwatch 2 Will Tackle Smurfs By Making Players Connect A Mobile Number To Their Battlenet Account Kris Holt Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover all things video games and esports. Jun 16, 2022, 04:39pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Junker Queen will not tolerate Overwatch 2 smurfs.

Blizzard Entertainment Overwatch fans learned a ton of details about Overwatch 2 and the upcoming beta today after the Reveal Event (and, hopefully, from my interviews with the devs). One important piece of information was announced very quietly, however: You’ll need to connect a mobile phone number to your Battle. net account to play Overwatch 2 .

MORE FROM FORBES The Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack Includes Guaranteed Beta Access, Skins And Other Perks By Kris Holt This is mentioned on the Battle. net store page for the Watchpoint Pack , which will grant players immediate access to the next beta, along with two skins, Virtual Currency, a season 1 premium battle pass and (if they don’t have it) the Legendary Edition of the original game. The pack costs $40.

The phone number requirement very much seems like an attempt to mitigate the problem of smurfs. Overwatch 2 will be a free-to-play game. Theoretically, players could register a bunch of free smurf accounts.

Higher-level players often have those so they can get into games faster and perhaps dunk on less-skilled players. Tying accounts to phone numbers makes signing up for multiple accounts less easy. Sure, if people really wanted a smurf account they could have a burner phone, a spare SIM that they swap into their device or a Google Voice account.

But this makes it slightly more difficult to create a secondary account on a whim. MORE FOR YOU ‘Demon Slayer’ Season 2 Finally Has An Actual 2021 Release Date Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Not A Sure Thing, Says Director ‘Genshin Impact’ Still Refuses To Increase Anniversary Rewards, Despite Fan Outcry For a while, Blizzard has required players who want to be featured on top 500 leaderboards to have a mobile number connected to their account. So, this isn’t a completely shocking move.

Be sure to check out all the rest of my coverage from today’s Overwatch 2 Reveal Event: Watch the Reveal Event here How to Join Overwatch 2’s Second Beta Get Guaranteed Beta Access With The $40 Watchpoint Pack Overwatch 2 Hero Junker Queen’s Abilities Revealed And Explained By Devs The Next Overwatch 2 Beta Will Not Run On Windows 7 Or 8 Overwatch 2 Roadmap Revealed With Four Heroes And Seven Maps Coming This Year Overwatch 2 Has A Battle Pass And Loot Boxes Are Being Removed As It Goes Free-To-Play Overwatch 2’s New Mythic Skins Are Customizable, Take A Look At Concept Art For The First One Overwatch 2’s Competitive Mode Is Getting Some Major Changes Overwatch 2 PVE Will Arrive In 2023 If you have any questions about the beta or Overwatch 2 , hit me up on Twitter @krisholt and I’ll share what I can. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out some of my other work here .

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