Activision clarifies how Modern Warfare 2’s phone verification system works

Hamza Khalid
Modern Warfare 2 operators

Modern Warfare 2 players were concerned when it was confirmed that the game would have a phone verification system similar to Overwatch 2, and the developers have clarified exactly how this will work.

Modern Warfare 2 fans are looking ahead to all the new content that will arrive in the full release on October 28, and it was confirmed that the game will feature an SMS Protect system that sounded similar to Overwatch 2.

This requires players to use phone verification in order to access the game, and the community was divided about its inclusion. Now, Activision have properly explained how this system works in Modern Warfare 2.

On October 13, Activision shared an official RICOCHET progress report detailing many anti-cheat improvements as well as revealing that only PC players need a phone number attached to play Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.

The developers made it clear that the SMS policy for both new CoD titles requires PC players to link their Steam accounts to their phone numbers in order to play. So, console players won’t have to worry about registering their phone numbers.

However, SMS policy for Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 hasn’t changed on Battle.net. Players will have the same requirements as Warzone on PC.

Even if you’re buying Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2 on Steam, you’ll still need to link a phone number. Since buying and activating a new number can be expensive, this should discourage cheaters from doing so whenever they’re caught.

Activision described this system as “critical to [their] anti-cheat enforcement efforts” so that players can have a fun gaming experience. It’s reassuring to know that the devs are taking steps to counter the issue of cheaters.

SMS Protect is included in Overwatch 2, but it ended up locking some players out of the game, and this caused the developers to backtrack on some of its features. For this reason, the Call of Duty community had concerns about this feature’s inclusion.

Hopefully, SMS Protect will avoid going through the same issues as Overwatch 2 when it finally arrives in Modern Warfare 2’s launch.


For more Modern Warfare 2 content, check out how many players have been banned from the game and how you can get the Campaign rewards.

Image credits: Raven Software