You’ve owned Overwatch since launch, not Overwatch 2.
Overwatch is being shut down by Blizzard and replaced with Overwatch 2.
Overwatch 2 has requirements to play, including requirements to connect a phone number to your account.
This is a distinction that a lot of people aren’t making. I know it sucks, but this isn’t Overwatch any more. This is Overwatch 2. You need to start separating the two instead of still thinking they’re one and the same.
My main thing is why would I have to buy second cellphone # just to play on my second account which I bough fair and square years ago?
You bought a second account in Overwatch.
If you want to play Overwatch 2, you need to register a phone number.
Like I just noted above, you need to realise that this isn’t the same game. Overwatch is being shut down and replaced with Overwatch 2.
I know it sucks, but that’s the plain facts of the matter.
Yes, but that would work if OW and OW2 would be available at the same time. OW becomes OW2 and a lot of the stuff gets transferred in including accounts themselves
And I do not see making phone # on the account mandatory thing will improve the game but will hurt it … or is Blizz now fully targeting the likes of whales with money to shill … less people but more $$$ ya know
Overwatch isn’t “becoming” Overwatch 2. Overwatch is shutting down and Blizzard decided to allow players of the original keep their accounts and account unlocks in the sequel hence why accounts and account unlocks are being transferred over.
Overwatch 2 is replacing Overwatch, though, and Overwatch 2 has different access requirements than Overwatch does.
It absolutely will help the game as it will reduce the number of smurf accounts in game so there will be less griefing/trolling/harassing of others as a result.
i have been playing Ow for years and I have my cricket phone number for years as well, I even purchased the ow2 package few months ago and not they won’t let me play ow2, this is really annoying and I hope to get a refund. i am also in a family plan so there is no way I can switch to other carrier, this policy just does not make sense to me.
I’m no lawyer but I have worked customer service for a long time, and so far as I can see you should be eligible for a refund.
Of course that’s completely dependent on Blizzard’s refund policies and also any consumer protection regulations in your country.
When I purchased the Watchpoint Pack it did not mention that Cricket Wireless number are not accepted 
I’m so sad, I just want to play OW2 but I don’t have another phone number.
Its kinda sad (Blizzard) that you aren’t fighting for integrity, you are forcing players to Either use carriers that YOU Deem a player should have to subscribe to in order to play YOUR game, or you tell us to go take a hike and pound sand at a construction site, since well. You can’t get ur act together.
The Checklist.
I mean I guess you cut down on toxicity numbers by getting rid of any and all players that do NOT meet your over-zealous and highly unrealistic expectations.
Welcome to the Blizzard Country Club.
You can be elligible for a refund because the game hasn’t come out, I recommend doing that asap personnally. Some people on reddit have confirmed being able to at least.
Yeah, that definitely sucks
I don’t own a mobile/cell phone, can i get a refund @Blizzard on my Watchpoint Pack. Thanks for the years of joy.
Even though people who want to pay to play free games are actually in trouble.
What kind of nerve does it have to dismiss it as something that can’t be helped?
I never thought Blizzard would pull off a scam like this.
Fun fact: You don’t need a phone for 2FA. Before OW2 Blizzard did not know my phone number.
sound gooooood 
SMS protection
I don’t see how a game getting replaced justifies basically kicking out a good chunk of your player base? Especially since they’re deciding to this at the last minute, after hyping it up for new, returning, and legacy players. Those who aren’t in a position to get a valid phone plan, after almost a whole year of building anticipation, are now stopped at the door. It being a new game doesn’t change any of that
And this is why games as a service is fraud.
Don’t purchase mtx for overwatch 2 either guys, you know what blizzard is going to do with it when they don’t get the playercounts they want.
What about those of us that don’t have smartphones? We can’t play a game we’ve already bought (or were gifted) and own?
They could have set up a system where you can only purchase with an authenticated account.
As you can see from the Battle Pass plan
They seem to want the money now.
They don’t think about the future.
The other part of this besides blizzard trying to purge the user base and monetize the rest, is that this system will be used to force players to play per the same tired herd mentality (meta), or get booted.
Half the time I ever played this game I was just testing out random crap and ideas I had to see if they worked. I had way more fun doing that than playing the same tired deathball or whatever the current meta was. But now if you try anything else, you are effing banned. That’s even if you make it past this horrendous SMS monetization scheme.
This may be the single worst decision I have ever seen a gameplay company make in terms of impact on loyal userbase.
Good lord it just keeps getting worse the more I think about it.
Also - bless whomever it was who reminded me of the mute function so I don’t have to read comix’s inane excuse making.
And to the guy who said that these are “public” servers. No they are not. Not legally. Every server is “private” from a legal standpoint. It’s akin to a place of business, though that does permit Blizzard to set their own rules. However…it also doesn’t prevent us from calling them out for how utterly stupid they are.