Modern Warfare 2 players divided about the game’s SMS Protect system
Modern Warfare 2 is confirmed to feature the controversial SMS Protect system to counter cheaters, and Call of Duty players are divided about its inclusion.
After the open beta set new player count records for the Call of Duty franchise, Modern Warfare 2 fans are looking ahead to all the new content that will arrive in the full release on October 28.
Cheaters are a major problem encountered by CoD players, and Activision Blizzard included SMS Protect to counter this. The Modern Warfare 2 fanbase is divided about this feature being added to the game.
The SMS Protect system requires players to have a phone number connected to their account in order to hop into the game, and Reddit user ‘Saint_Pootis’ highlighted this feature in the Modern Warfare 2 subreddit.
This feature was previously included in Overwatch 2 but the developers backtracked on it following backlash from players who were being locked out of the game due to pre-paid phone issues.
The Redditor made it clear that they’re not on board with the inclusion of this feature in MW2, as it could affect players with pre-paid phones and unsupported plan providers. This was a sentiment shared by a few of the commenters as well.
One user in the thread asked: “This is gonna be for everyone? Fine for me and most people, but damn. What about anyone without a phone? Or those who can’t afford a phone plan?”
Another player described the SMS Protect rollout in Overwatch 2 as a “train wreck” and claimed that the developers had been “cutting corners” during the implementation. They then shared their hope that things will get smoothed out for Modern Warfare 2’s launch.
Despite these complaints, the thread also had its fair share of users defending the addition of SMS Protect as they feel that it will provide extra protection from cheaters in the Call of Duty title.
One user explained: “If you’ve ever tried to get your hacked Call of Duty account fixed with Activision support (6 months of emails back and forth) then you’ll happily oblige to the extra SMS security.”
Another commenter added that Call of Duty already has a decent anti-cheat measure in the form of the RICOCHET system, and the phone number requirement is an “extra layer on top of it.
They also added that Warzone already has this feature as a requirement for new accounts, so there’s no guarantee that it will affect pre-paid players the same way that it did in Overwatch 2.
Saint_Pootis stated in the post that they prefer other anti-cheat measures like hardware ID and IP banning. However, some of the commenters pointed out that it’s easy for cheaters to get around these measures, so SMS Protect is a more effective method.
This is because bypassing this feature involves buying and activating a new number every time you’re caught. As a result, it’s more expensive and difficult for cheaters to infiltrate Modern Warfare 2 matches.
It remains to be seen if SMS Protect will go through any of the same problems at Modern Warfare 2’s launch that it did in Overwatch 2. Hopefully, it will successfully vent out any cheaters that attempt to ruin games.
For more Modern Warfare 2 content, check out the one major issue Dr Disrespect has with the game and this leak claiming that real-life soccer players will join the game as Operators.
Image credits: Activision