Looks like only Modern Warfare 2 players on PC need a phone number to play the shooter

Activision details how it will use SMS verification system as a requirement for games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

According to the company, players must have a text-enabled phone number to play the game — but only on PC.

It was reported earlier this week that Modern Warfare 2 will require players to register a phone number in order to play the game. Also note that prepaid or VOIP numbers may not work with this system. There was no explicit requirement to target only PC players at the time, which worried many players.

In a blog post on the matter, Activision stated that existing Warzone players who have previously verified their accounts will not need to provide any additional information to access Modern Warfare 2 or Warzone 2.0. When the company implements the SMS system in 2020, the policy will be the same for Warzone players on Battle.net. This is also a requirement for Steam users.

“SMS verification is critical to our anti-cheat enforcement efforts to address illegal account creation at the source,” the post reads. “This helps our security team maintain the security of accounts and games, providing a safe, fair and fun gaming experience for all of our players.

“In August 2022, we updated our SMS policy for new players of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) to require a text-enabled mobile phone number to play the game. Prior to this change, new accounts in Modern Warfare did not require SMS Security Checks. As the illicit account marketplace adapts to our security enforcement, RICOCHET is starting to see more and more cheaters trying to access Warzone from Modern Warfare to bypass SMS policies, so the security team recommends an update to further crack down on the illicit account marketplace.

The company guarantees that the SMS request for game access is for security purposes only and the data will not be used for marketing purposes.

Elsewhere in the post, in preparation for the beta, the RICOCHET team banned over 60,000 “illegal accounts” and issued over 20,000 bans during the beta. The team found that 72% of players detected cheating had taken action before playing a single match. For those who were able to play normally, the system was able to detect and remove them from the ecosystem in five matches.

During the beta, a small number of players reported beta crash bugs that resulted in their accounts being permanently banned. The issue was investigated as the game was unable to trigger the ban, and security and data engineers confirmed there was no bug during testing that could have caused this to happen.

However, there is a system that unfairly affects players, kicking them out of the game for friendlies. The issue only persisted “for a short period of time on Sunday” until it was resolved. This specific issue has been resolved at the time of publication.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be released on October 28 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox.