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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will require players to register with a phone number on Battle.net to play the game, in order to make players responsible for their actions. The game is set for release later this month on October 28th.

The phone verification system, which Activision Blizzard calls SMS Protect, is meant to cut down on toxic behavior from players, preventing them from creating endless new accounts to evade bans or to cheat. “Limiting the number of free accounts that a single person can create helps keep players accountable for their actions and, in turn, reduces toxicity and cheating and ensures a positive community experience for all players,” Activision Blizzard’s support page reads.

The problem is that SMS Protect is designed for text-enabled mobile phones, and doesn’t treat all phone numbers equally. A separate Battle.net support page notes that “mobile phones with prepaid plans may not work with the phone notification service.” It also doesn’t work with VoIP numbers. That restricts the service to players with postpaid cellular plans, which may not be affordable or easily accessible to many players around the world.

one Modern Warfare II beta player told PCGamer last month that they were asked for a “postpaid phone number” to start the game, with Battle.net refusing to accept the number associated with their prepaid Cricket Wireless plan. “This seems very wrong to require video game players to enter into a contract with

Over 25 years since the Pokemon animated series first premiered, protagonist Ash Ketchum has finally achieved his dream of becoming a World Champion.

During the latest episode of the Pokemon Ultimate Journeys series in Japan, Ash defeated Galar champion Leon in the final round of the Masters Eight Tournament to earn the title of top trainer in the Pokemon world.

“Ash Ketchum’s determination and perseverance to achieve his goal of becoming the world’s top Pokemon Trainer over the course of 25 seasons represents the very best of what it means to be a Trainer,” Taito Okiura, vice president of marketing for Pokemon Company International, said in a press releases Friday.

The Pokemon Ultimate Journeys series is streaming in the US exclusively on Netflix. The finals of the Masters Eight Tournament will air worldwide “in the future.”

Ash’s victory comes just a week before the launch of the latest mainline Pokemon games, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The pair arrive for Nintendo Switch on Nov. 18 and take players to a brand-new open-world region called Paldea, which is home to a variety of new Pokemon. Everyone who purchases one of the games before Feb. 28 will be able to receive a special bonus Pikachu.

When you think of Apple, you probably think of the iPhone. Or perhaps the Mac. When you think about Apple’s bank account, bursting at more than $179 billion in cash and marketable securities, you probably imagine a pile of money larger than anything you’ve seen in a cartoon or at the movies. On Thursday, Apple will likely take on a new role too, as a bellwether for our shaky economy.

The Cupertino, California, tech giant is set to release a financial report for its fourth fiscal quarter this Thursday, releasing details about its revenue and profit between July and September. It’s not the months that cover the all-important holiday shopping season, during which Apple typically rings up more sales than the entire economic output of many countries. But it will include a couple weeks of sales for its newly released iPhone 14newest Apple Watches and upgraded AirPods Pro as well.

The report may also serve as a sign of health for the worldwide economy. Surveys show that many people are increasing convinced the world’s entered into a painful recession that may linger for a long time. Meanwhile, lawmakers and business leaders are struggling to combat nagging inflation, now above 8%amid Russia’s ongoing war on Ukrainewhich has helped spark artificially higher energy prices.

The tech industry, once a bright spot of the economy, is starting to feel the pinch. Google parent Alphabet posted weaker than expected third-quarter earnings Tuesday, driven in part by problems such