The immensely popular Pokémon GO game that released in a few countries last week will not be released in the UK for a while after its makers, Niantic and Nintendo, hit the pause button on the launch, citing server issues. The game is so popular in the places that it launched that overwhelming user traffic caused the servers it runs on to crash.
CEO of Niantic, John Hanke, has said that the launch of Pokémon GO in the UK and other countries where it isn't yet available will be delayed until they're “comfortable” that server issues have been effectively resolved. Despite the rollout to the iOS and Android app stores being paused, many users are finding ways to get around this. Android users are grabbing APK files from third parties, even with the risk of malware, and iOS users are changing their app stores to the US version to grab the game.
Pokémon GO is an augmented reality game from the makers of Ingress. Landmarks around your town and the wider world act as Pokémon Gyms and PokéStops. When you start the game you get to catch either Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle, the starter Pokémon from the original games. However, if you walk far enough away from these three to make them respawn you can actually get lucky and catch a Pikachu as a starter instead.
Hanke did not give any release date for the international launch of Pokémon GO. Officially the game is only available in a few countries including New Zealand, Australia and the US.
Source: BBC
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