The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has sparked controversy with the emergence of a black market trading system facilitated by its new trading mechanic. Players are now buying and selling digital cards on platforms like eBay, with prices ranging from $5 to $10 per card. This trading occurs through the game's system where players exchange friend codes and cards, often using unwanted Pokémon ex cards to acquire the ones they desire.
For instance, a listing for a Starmie ex card priced at $5.99 requires buyers to have 500 Trade Tokens, one Trade Stamina, and an unwanted Pokémon ex card for the exchange. This practice blatantly violates the Pokémon TCG Pocket terms of service, which explicitly prohibit the buying or selling of virtual content. However, the sellers face no loss as they trade cards of the same rarity and can continue selling the received cards.
eBay listings feature a variety of ex Pokémon and 1 Star, alternate art cards, which are among the rarest available for trading. Some sellers even offer entire accounts with rare cards and Pack Hourglasses, a common practice in online games despite breaching the terms of service.
The trading feature, introduced last week, has been contentious. It's part of a broader system designed to encourage real-world spending by limiting the number of packs players can open and the frequency of Wonder Picking and trading without financial investment. The introduction of Trade Tokens, requiring players to delete five cards to trade one of the same rarity, has drawn significant criticism for its costliness.
The black market would likely exist even without these restrictions, fueled by the game's basic trading mechanics that necessitate being friends with another player to trade. This has led to calls from the community, including Reddit user siraquakip, for a more open trading system within the app to connect players more safely and efficiently, reducing reliance on external platforms like Reddit, Discord, and now eBay.
Creatures Inc., the developer, has warned against buying and selling cards with real money and other forms of cheating, promising to take action against violators. Ironically, the Trade Tokens mechanic was intended to prevent such exploitation, yet it has not only failed but also alienated many players. The company is actively investigating ways to improve the trading feature but has not yet provided specifics on these improvements, despite ongoing complaints since the feature's announcement three weeks ago.
There is a growing sentiment among fans that the trading system is designed to boost revenue for Pokémon TCG Pocket, which reportedly earned half a billion dollars in its first three months before trading was introduced. The inability to trade higher rarity cards (2 Star and above) further supports this view, as it forces players to spend more money on packs in hopes of obtaining the cards they need. One player, for example, spent around $1,500 to complete the first set, with a third set released just last week.
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