Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 is BlizzardPublisherBlizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment is the developer of Overwatch 2, Diablo, and World of Warcraft. Its competitive shooter Overwatch 2 is protected by Defense Matrix, Blizzard's in-house fair-play program, which is server-side and account-based rather than a kernel driver. Blizzard has been part of Microsoft since the Activision Blizzard acquisition closed in October 2023.3 games in this family →'s 5v5 team-based hero shooter, launched free-to-play on October 4, 2022, replacing the original Overwatch in place. It runs on a proprietary in-house Blizzard engineEngineBlizzard Overwatch engine (custom)Overwatch and Overwatch 2 run on a proprietary in-house engine built at Blizzard, not Unreal or Unity. Blizzard has discussed its architecture in GDC talks but does not license it externally, which is why it is its own family in this catalog.1 game in this family → rather than Unreal or Unity, and came to Steam on August 10, 2023, alongside the existing Battle.net release. A Battle.net account is required on every platform, including Steam and consoles, which is what ties cross-play and cross-progression together.

If you would rather not install a kernel-mode anti-cheat, Overwatch 2 is one of the few big competitive shooters that does not use one. Expect to put a phone number on your Battle.net account to play. Securing that account with two-factor authentication matters more here than usual, since the account is the identity layer Defense MatrixAnti-cheatBlizzard Defense MatrixDefense Matrix is Blizzard's fair-play program for Overwatch 2, launched in 2022. Unlike kernel anti-cheats, it installs no kernel driver; it combines server-side and machine-learning detection, report review, and account security such as SMS Protect (a phone-number requirement on the Battle.net account). It asks less of the player's system than a kernel anti-cheat does, in exchange for relying more on server-side and behavioral signals.1 game in this family → leans on.

Overwatch 2 is one of the lightest trust asks among major competitive shooters: it installs no kernel-mode anti-cheat driver. Its fair-play system, Defense Matrix, works through server-side and machine-learning detection, player reports, and account-security measures rather than a resident kernel component. An independent academic study of client-side anti-cheats placed Overwatch 2 in the least-invasive category, a user-space client alongside the game with nothing at the kernel level. The most visible piece for players is SMS Protect, which attaches a phone number to the linked Battle.net account. The trade-off is the same one Counter-Strike 2 makes with VAC: less aggressive at catching the most sophisticated cheats than a kernel anti-cheat, in exchange for asking far less of your system. The main Windows process is Overwatch.exe, launched through the Battle.net app.

Blizzard documents Defense Matrix in its own Overwatch news posts and reports its enforcement numbers publicly; it said it had banned more than a million accounts for cheating in the game's first three years. SMS Protect drew criticism at the October 2022 launch because it initially excluded prepaid and some budget phone plans, which players said effectively penalized lower-income accounts. Blizzard walked the requirement back for established players within days and broadened prepaid support the following month, an episode covered by PC Gamer, Kotaku, and Fortune. Blizzard has been part of Microsoft since the Activision Blizzard acquisition closed in October 2023.