After decades of development, the “Pokémon Trading Card Game” (PTCG) has developed an extremely large trading market. Some of the rarer cards often have extremely high values. However, because of this, whenever the official launches a new card pack, it will attract a large number of resale scalpers to rush to buy it, seriously affecting the rights and interests of ordinary players. In this regard, many stores will use various countermeasures, and now, even the Japanese Pokémon Company officials seem to have finally begun to take action.
Just earlier this week, The Pokémon Company announced that they are currently considering introducing an identity verification system based on the Japanese “Personal Number Card” for its malls and services in Japan to combat scalpers’ hype and cheating in PTCG-related products and activities.
According to a report on the “Automaton” website, The Pokémon Company has recently issued an official notice to Japanese PTCG players, announcing that starting from August 2026, ID scanning will be required before using some of its services to ensure that all consumers can use their services in a “safe and fair” environment.
The so-called “Individual Number Card” is a physical ID card issued by the Japanese government, which contains a 12-digit ID number unique to each Japanese citizen. All Japanese nationals can apply for this card, which can usually be used as proof of identity when handling government-related services, and can also be used as a health insurance card.
The “identity verification system” in this plan, the Pokémon Center hinted, will include the pre-order lottery and sales of specific PTCG-related products in the Japanese Pokémon Center’s official online store, as well as registration for official events held in Japan. In these cases, fans may need to first use their smartphone to scan the chip in their Personal Number Card to verify their Trainer Club account.
But for now, the official has not disclosed which products will require identity verification. However, since local scalpers in Japan often use a large number of robot accounts to scan goods on a large scale to ensure that they can obtain the specific card packs they want more efficiently, this method initiated by the official mall may impose restrictions to a certain extent.
Interestingly, many other stores in Japan have already launched various strategies to deal with scalpers. For example, a card store recently stipulated that consumers who come to purchase PTCG-related products must first pass a written test. These questions are very simple for real “Pokémon” fans, but for some scalpers who only regard PTCG as a money-making tool, they often hit a wall.
On the other hand, this identity verification system can also be used in official competitions. For example, in a PTCG tournament held in Yokohama last September, players used other people’s accounts to compete or lied about their age. Therefore, the introduction of this system seems to be able to reduce this type of cheating.
Source: KOCPC Chinese