Ensure competitive integrity at every level of play by rapidly identifying and eliminating cheaters and disruptive players.Define, develop, and nurture programs that will ensure a positive experience for all players.This initiative is spearheaded by a group made up of cross-functional teams throughout Blizzard, and they have defined a set of goals that’s guiding our mission to ensure a great experience for all Overwatch 2 players:

We’re ready to meet these challenges head on with a new initiative we’re calling Defense Matrix.ĭefense Matrix encompasses our infrastructure of systems designed to help protect the integrity of gameplay and promote positive behavior in Overwatch 2. While this is an exciting time, we also recognize that free-to-play introduces new challenges in how we disincentivize disruptive behavior and gameplay. On October 4, we are excited to welcome even more players into our universe. Overwatch 2 going free-to-play is driven by our belief that the game should be played and enjoyed alongside friends. If a player is caught engaging in disruptive behavior, their account may be banned whether they have a new account or not.Īs a team, we will keep listening to ongoing feedback and will make further adjustments in this area if it is required. We remain committed to combating disruptive behavior in Overwatch 2-accounts that were not connected to as well as new accounts will still have to meet SMS Protect requirements, which helps to ensure we’re protecting our community against cheating. We will update players once it is in effect. We are working to make this change and expect it to go live on Friday, October 7. Any Overwatch player with a connected account, which includes all players who have played since June 9, 2021, will not have to provide a phone number to play. We have made the decision to remove phone number requirements for a majority of existing Overwatch players.

Update, October 5: We designed Overwatch 2 to be a live service, which enables us to be responsive to a variety of player feedback. This update may take several hours to roll out completely, and we can’t wait to see you in-game! We are excited to welcome more players to Overwatch 2 while continuing our commitment to combating disruptive behavior and protecting the integrity of the player experience. Update, November 17: Beginning today, we are expanding global SMS Protect access to pre-paid phones.

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