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Pokemon Go fans on ‘pause’ for global rollout find ways to play unofficially as user numbers overtake Twitter

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By Charlotte McEleny, Asia Editor

July 11, 2016 | 3 min read

Pokemon Go, the Android and iOS augmented reality version of the popular gaming franchise Pokemon, had its global rollout paused in some markets because some of its servers were unable to cope with demand.

Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go had to pause global rollout due to popularity

According to Forbes, Pokemon Go is already about to surpass Twitter in the number of people actively using it daily on Android devices.

The game has only been officially launched onto the app stores of the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

In markets that have been banned, like Singapore, groups are popping up online offering each other suggestions of how to play the game unofficially. People are finding workarounds, such as downloading a Pokemon Go APK version via Google search.

A group on Facebook called Pokemon Go Singapore has already reached over 11,000 members. Discussions from the community range from people reminding one another that it hasn’t launched in the country yet, to people suggesting that if you find a way to download it and then travel to nearby Batam, Indonesia and back, the Pokemon characters/AR content will appear in places in Signapore.

Augmented reality has been a relatively nascent technology, used in fragmented ways by different brands and franchises. It’s also been somewhat overshadowed by its cousin virtual reality in recent times. However, the popularity of the game thus far could be the use case that spurs wider adoption by a more mainstream mobile phone user.

The Pokemon franchise is jointly owned by Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures and since its inception in 1998 has led to TV shows and films, as well as many spin-off toy and merchandise products.

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