Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Joins Overwatch 2 in Requiring Phone Number Verification
Gamers with prepaid plans might be out of luck.
Modern Warfare 2 players might hit a snag when trying to play online.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will require mobile phone verification, meaning gamers with active non-prepaid phone plans will only be allowed access, as reported earlier Monday by GameSpot.
The game's Battle.net page states a mobile phone number must be linked to a person's account to play the game. This phone number verification system is part of the company's defense matrix, aimed at improving security in-game and helping deal with disruptive players.
Activision Blizzard didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Overwatch 2, another Activision Blizzard game, launched last week but was immediately hit with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This is when servers are flooded with so many service requests that it overloads the system.
The game also caught some ire when players realized that they needed an active phone number to access the game. This was limited to people with post-paid cellphone plans, or plans that are billed at the end of the month. Prepaid plans, which require people to pay before service is activated, and voice-over-IP plans don't work with SMS verification, according to an Activision Blizzard blog post.
Cheaters also plagued Call of Duty Warzone, another free-to-play game from the company.
According to YouGov data, 38% of US adults between 18 and 29 have prepaid plans. Outcry prompted Activision Blizzard to allow a majority of existing users to bypass SMS verification. New users, however, must have a valid post-paid phone number. It's uncertain if a similar consideration will be made for Modern Warfare 2 players.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is set to launch on Oct. 28.