‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’ will use Blizzard’s controversial SMS Protect system

When the next Call of Duty arrives on , fans will need to connect a phone number to their Battle.net account to play the game. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, newly created Overwatch 2 accounts, and newly created Call of Duty: Modern Warfare accounts require a phone number,” says a recently spotted by .

News of the requirement comes following a week of controversy around , the phone-linking system in use by Overwatch 2 and soon Modern Warfare II. After a that saw a prevent many from playing Overwatch 2 on its release day, Blizzard announced it would scale back the requirement. Where the studio previously said all players would need to link a phone number to their Battle.net account, now that requisite only falls on new Overwatch players. In part, the system has been controversial because “certain pre-paid” numbers could not be used in conjunction with SMS Protect. Before Friday, players with service from mobile providers like Cricket Wireless found they could not play the game.

At the moment, it’s unclear if all Warzone 2.0 players will need a mobile phone number to play that game once it arrives on . Since 2020, Infinity Ward has required all free-to-play Warzone users on PC to go through a . Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for clarification and comment.