2FA backup codes for gaming accounts: where every platform keeps them

Backup and recovery codes, platform by platform

What each platform gives you, how many, and where to find it. Each row links to that platform’s own page. When a detail is missing here, the official page does not state it.

Steam

Backup codes from Account Details, Manage Steam Guard, Get Backup Codes, confirmed with a text to your number; Steam emails you when a set is made and when one is used. Separately, a recovery code starting with R is shown when you add the mobile authenticator. Source

Epic Games

8-digit backup codes, given when you first turn on 2FA with an authenticator app. At the 2FA prompt, Try another way leads to the option for entering one. Source

PlayStation

10 backup codes, each usable once. Shown when you finish 2-step setup, and later under Security, Backup Codes, but only while you can sign in. For a fresh set, turn 2-step off and on again. Source

Microsoft (Xbox, Minecraft)

One recovery code, not a list. Generating a new one makes every older code stop working, and Microsoft cannot show you an existing code again. Source

EA

Backup codes under View backup codes in your EA Account’s two-factor settings. EA calls them the only way into your account from a new device if your 2FA method is out of reach. Source

Nintendo

Backup codes listed right after 2-step setup with a Copy button; each one works once. Review them, or generate a new set, from Sign-in and security settings. Source

Discord

8-digit backup codes, each usable once. Shown when you turn on MFA, and later under User Settings, My Account, View Backup Codes, where you can also generate a new set. Discord support cannot make new codes for you. Source

Roblox

Recovery codes from Settings, Security, Generate (your password is required). Shown only once, each works once, and generating a new set switches off the old one. Source

Battle.net (Blizzard)

No code list. Each authenticator has a Serial Number and Restore Code pair, found in the Battle.net app under your profile, Authenticator, the cog, Serial and Restore Codes. Restore Authenticator on a new phone takes both. Source

Activision (Call of Duty)

Ten backup codes, each usable once, given when you set up an authenticator app and also emailed to you. Resetting 2FA gives ten new ones. SMS 2FA comes with no backup codes. Source

Riot Games

No backup codes described. Riot MFA starts with email codes, and Riot Mobile or an authenticator app can be added on top, so the inbox stays the fallback; if MFA emails go to an inbox you have lost, Riot says your only option is player support. Source

Rockstar Games (GTA)

No backup codes described. Rockstar strongly recommends turning on your authenticator app’s cloud backup, and points you to the app maker’s own recovery steps if the phone is lost. Source

HoYoverse (Genshin Impact)

No backup codes described. Verification codes go to the email or phone linked to the account; lose both and you are on the Account Issues Application Form, and HoYoverse makes no promise that it gets the account back. Source

Back up every gaming account’s codes in one sitting

1. Step 1

   List every account that has 2FA switched on

   Launchers, console accounts, Discord, and the email accounts behind all of them. The email deserves the most care: on most platforms it is the fallback once your codes and phone are gone.

2. Step 2

   Open each security page while you can still sign in

   You usually need to be signed in to see or make codes. PlayStation shows backup codes only while you are signed in, and Microsoft cannot display an old recovery code at all, so this is a job for a calm evening, not a lockout.

3. Step 3

   Save every set the moment it appears

   Copy each set into one labelled place per account and note the date. A new code can cancel the old one (Microsoft says so for its recovery code), so the date tells you which copy is current.

4. Step 4

   Keep one copy off your phone

   Steam’s advice is to print the codes and not keep them as screenshots or files on your computer. A printed sheet at home survives a lost phone and a compromised laptop alike.

5. Step 5

   Cross codes off as you use them

   PlayStation and Nintendo backup codes each work once. When you are down to the last few, generate a new set while you can still get in.

6. Step 6

   Check again before you wipe an old phone

   Moving an authenticator to a new phone is exactly when people discover their codes went missing. Run this list before the factory reset, not after.