Budding Pokemon Trainers in Southeast Asia have a reason to celebrate.
Just over a month after it’s official launch, Pokemon Go has, as of this morning (Saturday), arrived in Southeast Asia.
A smash-hit title from Niantic and Nintendo , Pokemon Go is an Augmented Reality (AR) game that used Geo-location to allow players to use their smartphones to capture virtual Pokemon in real-life locations.
It’s the closest thing out there to being an actual Pokemon trainer.
The roll-out covers a total of 14 markets in Asia and Oceania including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Since its launch in early July, Pokemon Go has been nothing short of a second coming for mobile gaming.
The game has so far been downloaded over a hundred million times and each day players spend around $10 million a day on virtual item like Poke Balls.
With this one single game, Niantic and Nintendo have eclipsed giants like Supercell, which last year, made around $6.3 million a day from its titles.
The game is even on track to be the first mobile title to break the US$4 billion-per-year ceiling which would see it eclipse titles like Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga.
The game has had the added benefit of getting gamers off their feet and moving around in order to hunt for more Pokemon. Many “Pokemon Walks” have been organised in cities around the world. These events see vast armies of Pokemon Trainers scour the land in order to catch that elusive Dragonite or Snorlax.
This is not to say that there have not been a fair share of problems arising from such a title. Due to the title requiring people to move around and explore the areas around them, many a gamer has stumbled into places that they should not be in. This has led to a spate of violent crimes targeted at clueless Pokemon Go trainers.
Security agencies the world over have voiced concern over the potential risks such a game could have on unwary players.
Developer Niantic has also faced harsh criticism for its lack of communication with the player base, especially after a feature was removed which caused uproar among fans.
This coupled with inability to cope with player demand means that while Pokemon Go is probably something that is here to stay, a lot of work is still left to be done if the title is going to reach the lofty heights that people expect.
Regardless, today is a day of celebration for gamers who have waited weeks to play Pokemon Go. In the words Khairul Sufiyan, a Singaporean Pokemon Go fanatic that once took a boat to Indonesia in the hopes of playing the game there, “finally, my time has come.”
VIA - forbes.com
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