The Pokémon Company Announces Facial Recognition System to Help Kill Scalping at Japanese Card Stores, Mandatory From Elementary School Age

Pokémon paper scalping has led to the instauration of a mandatory facial designation strategy astatine immoderate stores successful Japan, for each big customers and children astatine simple schoolhouse property oregon older.

The Pokémon Company announced the drastic measurement successful an update connected its authoritative Japanese website, which states that the determination has been deemed indispensable to supply "a harmless and unafraid buying situation for each customers" and "to forestall crime."

Entry to authoritative Pokémon stores volition beryllium constricted to 1 sojourn per idiosyncratic per time successful bid to bounds lawsuit spending, with repetition introduction denied — though it's unclear precisely what other would hap if you did effort and propulsion your luck.

"To guarantee compliance with our introduction rules, if we observe aggregate attempts to participate the store, our unit whitethorn talk to you individually," caller guidanced has stated, which sounds similar a polite mode of saying you'll get a bully scolding.

And portion children nether simple schoolhouse property (pre-schoolers) won't beryllium taxable to facial designation checks, don't deliberation you tin conscionable nonstop successful your young sibling/child to bargain the cards for you. "Pre-schoolers cannot participate the store alone," the Pokémon Company noted. "They indispensable beryllium accompanied by a guardian."

Earlier this month, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said The Pokémon Company would "take measures" to woody with the rampant shortages and scalping, though stopped abbreviated of mentioning thing specific. It seems apt Furukawa was referring to this facial designation strategy — though whether it makes immoderate dent connected the lucrative Pokémon paper resale marketplace remains to beryllium seen.

Pokémon cards person go a premier people for scalpers and thieves implicit the past fewer years owed to their soaring popularity and the perceived worth of uncommon cards. New paper releases often merchantability retired completely, and The Pokémon Company has appeared incapable oregon unwilling to afloat support up with request — contempt a staggering 10 cardinal cards printed past twelvemonth alone.

Japanese promotions person sparked arguments successful accelerated nutrient chains, portion successful the U.S., hardly a period goes by without a study of a trading paper store being robbed and the past twelvemonth unsocial has seen countless instances wherever trading paper stores person been breached into overnight. Will facial designation help? It seems thing of a astonishing step, but astatine this constituent it's unclear what other tin beryllium done to effort and negociate the situation.

One paper store successful New York was precocious targeted by equipped thieves successful wide daylight, leaving terrified unit and shoppers held astatine gunpoint. In May, reports emerged of a Florida antheral who was arrested connected suspicion of stealing $12,000 of Pokémon cards portion wielding a battery-powered chainsaw. And successful April, different hopeless Pokémon instrumentality was arrested successful Pasadena, California, aft hiding wrong a closed Best Buy up of a Pokémon paper drop.

Image credit: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social