Overwatch 2 phone requirement: ‘Punished for being poor’

“I feel like I’m being punished for being poor,” Note and watch Player Richard Munster said: Kotaku By email. Along With 19 million other peopleAnd Richard and his brother both use Cricket Wireless, one of the prepaid phone services that Monitor 2 It will not accept the newly developed mandatory two-factor authentication system, SMS Protection.

every single Monitor 2 Player, including those who previously bought Note and watch-You need to provide a phone number that fits certain requirements to start the game. As part of these requirements, numbers cannot be attached to a prepaid phone plan, landline, or VOIP use. anyway what’s left of It seems that Blizzard’s heart is in the right place – the developer hopes this requirement will limit “both cheating and disruptive behavior” – players like Richard are being forgotten. Not because they don’t play well, don’t care, or don’t want to have fun, but because they can’t buy the right kind of phone.

Prepaid phone plans like Cricket and Mint Mobile allow people to pay for their use up front. Despite being unfairly offended Too badPrepaid phones are easy to incorporate into lower income budgets, at a monthly cost typically of $15-$50. Some companies like AT&T advertise their prepaid services directly For low-income customers.

Richard, a college student, uses Cricket’s $50 monthly plan because “if you can’t pay that month, they hang up the phone instead of taking you to the groups.”

“If I get a normal phone plan and then can’t pay, my credit score will be destroyed,” he said.

في وقت ما في عام 2020 ، كان هناك 74 million US prepaid phone plan users alone. Richard is far from the only one Note and watch Player being phased out.

“I am ashamed to own a prepaid phone,” one Reddit user said Posted in r / Overwatch I got a thousand upvotes in less than 24 hours. “I never thought I would be ineligible to play Note and watch Based on my ability to afford a phone contract, but here we go… Blizzard is the first company to make me feel too poor to play a game.”

Read more: Be prepared for this big seven Monitor 2 Game changes

“I can’t believe Blizzard is blocking people with prepaid phone plans from accessing it Monitor 2” One Twitter user wrote. “Why does it matter how I pay my phone bill? 6 years of my life, all the time, money and progress in the abyss.”

Blizzard’s phone restrictions appear to primarily and broadly affect US prepaid phone plan users, and the company is no longer KotakuComment request in time for posting. Prepaid phone users in other countries informed Being able to log into the game without issues, which some players speculate could be either because their country requires identification in order to purchase a prepaid phone, or because Blizzard has only banned known prepaid phone plans.

This is why the system will not stop intruders or smurfsOne Reddit user wrote. They will only use a virtual number service that Blizz doesn’t know about.”

As Blizzard works to fix the problem, Richard and countless other low-income prepaid phone users are getting hurt.

“It sounds like a huge injustice,” Richard said. “Cheap postpaid plans are around $90. If you are a prepaid phone owner and really want to play Monitor 2You’re looking at an extra $50 a month to get a Blizzard-certified phone. Talk about going for freeto me-game.”