Requiring game profile creation - bad idea?

I’ve been toying with the idea of requiring players to create an online game profile before being able to play the game. Nothing too invasive or complex - just a username and optional password.

The hope is to have an online leaderboard filled with real players - every player. But the fear is that some players may see “Create Profile” and then just quit and never actually play.

Have any of you ever tried something like this? What was your experience? Any thoughts on if this is a good idea or bad idea?

Why not just integrate with Game Center?

put in a play as guest button…

this is what alot of games do now