The Pokemon Company has announced a new measure to combat TCG scalpers in Japan.

According to the official Japanese Pokemon Card Game website,  five temporary Pokemon Card Stores opening later this month in Japan will be using a “facial recognition system” to “provide a safe and secure shopping environment for all customers, to prevent crime, and to ensure compliance with appropriate entry and purchase rules”.

Customers of elementary school age and above will be required to enter the system when obtaining a numbered entry ticket for the store, and customers caught attempting to enter the same store multiple times will be approached by staff.

Scalping and other inappropriate activity related to the Pokemon TCG has become a growing problem, and this facial recognition system joins using National ID verification as another measure the Pokemon Company seems to be considering to combat the problem. Earlier in the month, it was also reported that the Japanese government was taking an interest in tackling problematic activities surrounding Japanese trading card games.

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