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

Activision has detailed how it will use an SMS verification system as a requirement to play call of duty: modern warfare.

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

Earlier this week it was reported that Modern Warfare 2 would require players to register a phone number to play the game. It was also noted that a prepaid or VOIP number might not work with the system. At the time, it was not specified that the requirement was only for PC players, which left many players concerned.

In a blog post on the subject, Activision said that existing Warzone players who previously verified their account would not be required to provide any additional information to access Modern Warfare 2 or Warzone 2.0. The policy will work the same as it did for Warzone players on Battle.net when the company implemented the SMS system in 2020. It will also be a requirement for Steam users.

“SMS verification is critical to our anti-cheating enforcement efforts, addressing illicit account creation at its source,” the post reads. “This helps our security team maintain account and game security to provide a safe, fair and fun gaming experience for all of our players.

“In August 2022, we updated the SMS policy for new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) players, requiring a text-enabled mobile phone number to play. Prior to this change, new Modern Warfare accounts could access Warzone without an SMS security check As the illicit account market adjusted to our security app, RICOCHET started seeing more cheaters trying to access Warzone from Modern Warfare to bypass the SMS policy, so that the security team recommended the update to further combat the illicit account market.”

The company ensures that the SMS requirement for access to the game is used for security purposes only and does not use the data for marketing purposes.

Elsewhere in the post, in preparation for the beta, Team RICOCHET banned over 60,000 “illicit accounts”, and over 20,000 bans were issued during the beta. The team found that 72% of players caught cheating were stopped before they played a single match. For those who were able to play normally, the systems were able to detect and remove them from the ecosystem within five games played.

During the beta, a small number of players reported that a beta lockout bug was causing their accounts to be permanently banned. Since the game cannot trigger a ban, the issue was investigated and data and security engineers confirmed that there was no potential bug that would have allowed this to happen during beta.

However, there was a system that unfairly affected players by kicking them out of matches for friendly fire. The issue only persisted “for a brief period on Sunday” before being resolved. This particular issue has been addressed for release.

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