Valve Says Dota 2 Ranked Match Players Must Register Phone Number

A recent update to Dota 2‘s matchmaking system is now making it mandatory for players of ranked matches to link a unique phone number to their accounts. The move comes amidst concerns that players with multiple account “create a negative matchmaking experience” and may be “ruining” ranked matches without any consequence. The matchmaking changes will go live on May 4, and don’t allow phone numbers provided from online services.

The announcement came as a way to ensure “quality matchmaking” for all Dota 2 players, but also revealed a host of other changes. From now on, if your Solo MMR is higher than your Party MMR and you queue in a party, your MMR will now be calibrated so it’s half way between the Solo and Party MMR value. Valve says this is to prevent matches from becoming volatile and turning into an “unpleasant and uncompetitive experience” for the parties involved. Furthermore, unsavoury behaviour such as feeding and botting is being weeded out with added detection measures, stricter punishments and even permabans.