To Play Modern Warfare 2, You Must Have This Phone Number

A recently updated battle.net article revealed that Modern Warfare 2 players require a phone number.

According to the article, updated a few days ago, newly created Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Overwatch 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare accounts need a phone number.

According to the article, players with pay-as-you-go contracts might not be able to participate because the phone notification service might not work with mobile phones with prepaid plans.

The article states that “any mobile phone in a supported country with a data plan, and that is not prepaid, or a VOIP number,” can use this service.

The controversial implementation of the phone number requirement recently led to players being locked out of their accounts and unable to play Overwatch 2.

Dear @PlayOverwatch:

I have four teenagers who enjoyed playing Overwatch together on their Switches. They played this way for well over a year and paid for the game from their own money.

They were really excited about OW2, but due to the SMS number requirement, they can’t play.

— Ryan Markel (@ryanmarkel) October 4, 2022

Blizzard reverted the change for some users, but the updated article from a couple of days ago means they are likely to introduce the change for Call of Duty too.

According to the article, Battle.net Phone Notifications are made for mobile devices with text-messaging capabilities:

There is no support for messaging services like WhatsApp for iOS or iMessage for Android.

The phone notification service might not be compatible with mobile phones on prepaid plans.

VoIP numbers transferred to a local provider are disqualified for the service, and phone notifications cannot be used with VoIP.

The article also states that only one phone number can be attached to one Battle.net account.

The change could cause household issues like Ryan Markel’s [above tweet]. Still, it could also make it difficult for people to reverse the boost.

Reverse boosting has become a go-to way for content creators to pass Call of Duty’s harsh skill-based matchmaking, which requires using two or more accounts.