Blizzard’s launch of Overwatch 2 on Tuesday didn’t go as deliberate. Many gamers who tried to play the revamped Overwatch skilled lengthy queue occasions, had been subjected to server errors, had been disconnected from video games, and had progress and gadgets not carry over from the unique recreation — that’s, if they might hook up with Blizzard’s recreation servers in any respect. On Wednesday night, Blizzard apologized for the state of Overwatch 2’s launch and introduced a serious coverage change: It will now not require a cellphone quantity to be hooked up to a Battle.web account for “a majority of existing Overwatch players.”

“We have made the decision to remove phone number requirements for a majority of existing Overwatch players,” the Overwatch workforce stated in a submit on Blizzard’s boards. “Any Overwatch player with a connected Battle.net account, which includes all players who have played since June 9, 2021, will not have to provide a phone number to play.”

Blizzard stated it plans to vary the cellphone quantity requirement for Overwatch 2 for current gamers by Friday.

Despite lifting the cellphone quantity requirement for a lot of its participant base, an initiative it known as SMS Protect, the developer “remain[s] committed to combating disruptive behavior in Overwatch 2” and famous that “accounts that were not connected to Battle.net as well as new accounts will still have to meet SMS Protect requirements, which helps to ensure we’re protecting our community against cheating. If a player is caught engaging in disruptive behavior, their account may be banned whether they have a new account or not.”

Blizzard’s resolution to require a cellphone quantity for Overwatch 2 — and additional restrictions about which sorts of cellphone numbers would meet its necessities — was a controversial one. Some gamers who had pre-paid cellular phone plans discovered themselves locked out from enjoying Overwatch 2, which means some clients who bought the unique Overwatch, which was changed by its sequel wholesale, may now not play their copy of the sport. That situation was exacerbated by the timing of Blizzard’s announcement of the coverage: one week earlier than Overwatch 2 launched, and properly after the developer began taking pre-orders for add-ons for the sport.

As for the standing of Overwatch 2’s on-line play, Blizzard stated it’s nonetheless working to enhance stability for the sport’s on-line service.

“Today we’ve patched a server that is critical to the login experience, and this change has increased login reliability,” the Overwatch workforce stated. “Beyond queues, we’re in progress with another server update that will reduce the occurrences of players being disconnected once they’re already in game.”

Blizzard stated it has “made changes to simplify the queuing process,” and expects gamers to see extra streamlined queue occasions, and is working to handle gamers being dropped from queues.

In Wednesday night’s replace, Blizzard additionally addressed issues with account merging and lacking participant gadgets, and incorrectly locked heroes, all of which it stated is being investigated and labored on. Blizzard once more famous that Overwatch 2’s launch points “were exacerbated by DDoS attacks,” which have apparently abated since Tuesday.

Blizzard stated updates might be posted on the official Overwatch Twitter account (and presumably its boards) as they arrive in.