Dota 2 will require a phone number to play in ranked matches

Do you enjoy playing ranked matches in Dota 2? Well, you better have a phone number ready because you're not going to be able to do that for much longer without one. Valve has announced in a blog post that it's now requiring all players to register a unique phone number if they want to play in ranked matches.

Valve is adding this requirement to reduce the number of players who use multiple accounts in ranked, saying it creates "a negative matchmaking experience at all skill brackets." Requiring a unique phone number for each ranked account will ideally prevent a noticeable number of players from doing this, resulting in a positive effect from players using their primary accounts.

If you're upset by this news and refuse to adhere to Valve's new rule, then you have until May 4 to enjoy all the ranked matchmaking you possibly can. After that, accounts without a unique phone number will not be eligible to participate in ranked matches. 

This is similar to what Valve has done with CS:GO's Prime Matchmaking, which offers higher quality matchmaking if you've registered a phone number. However, in that game, regular ranked play is still available without a phone.

Removing a number from your Dota 2 account after registration brings about a couple things. You can add a new number right away, but the number that was removed will not be usable for three months. Valve says this is to prevent someone from removing a number and immediately registering it with their alternate account. On top of that, Valve is not allowing numbers from online services to be registered. That means you likely won't be able to use your Google Voice number.

You can read the full blog post here, which goes into a number of other changes, including party changes, the return of ranked solo queue, and improved handling of nefarious behavior.

Latest in MOBA
League of Legends promo image - huge dude in a huge suit of armor holding a huge axe
Riot walks back unpopular League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests are coming back, and the Blue Essence cost for new champions will be cut in half
A triptych of views from Deadlock's improved map, showing a suspension bridge backlit by a setting sun, a triumphal arch with buildings in the background, and a leafy park overlooked by distant skyscrapers.
Deadlock gets a massive map overhaul that shrinks its map from four lanes to three: 'This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes'
Three monsters holding clubs in Dota 2.
As a lapsed 4,500 hour veteran of Dota 2, the big new Wandering Waters update has lured me back—but despite the changes, the game still feels stuck in its ways
Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser revealed in silhouette against a white moon and a blood-red sky.
League of Legends is getting a hotly anticipated skin for its lich necromancer Mordekaiser, but fans' joy has been 'obliterated' because it's 'stuck in a $200 fomo gacha store'
Smite 2 art
Hi-Rez will only be giving 'minor updates' to Smite and Paladins now it's laying off around 70 employees, but don't worry, Smite 2 is the 'primary focus of the newly streamlined operations'
LoL summoner art
It's high time League of Legends got full voice chat
Latest in News
A cat gets an affectionate head-scratch in miHoYo's Zenless Zone Zero.
Zenless Zone Zero developer finally embraces its divine domain as the god of jiggle physics, goes mad, adds them to cat balls
Image for
Space Marine 2 CEO puts the boot into the Saints Row team's twitching corpse from his private jet: 'Who's going to fund them for the next game after that disaster?'
Yeston RX 9070
Chinese graphics card maker claims RX 9070 supply will be 'stable' from April while AMD commits to more MSRP graphics cards though admits it's something 'we don't directly control'
Sennheiser HD 550 on a white box.
Sennheiser says it 'will not become a gaming brand' but its new HD 550 are a good excuse to use audiophile headphones for gaming
Virtual human head divided into horizontal layers in various skin tones.
The future of robots is looking ever more meaty as MIT researchers grow first bidirectional muscle tissue machine
Three sheep with big guns in Palworld.
It was 'super popular to hate Palworld' after launch, says community manager: 'A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure'