Pokemon Go launches in 26 more countries, and Asia gets no love

Pokémon Go is now available in 26 new countries on iOS and Android, but all of them are European.

This website tells you the countries the game is available in, and not a single one of them is Asian.

We’re not sure what’s the logic behind Pokemon Go’s launch strategy. Do they rank countries by adoption rate? Do they launch in small countries to avoid overloading their servers? Is there a language barrier? Are they afraid Asian users won’t buy stuff in-app? Why not just make it more equitable by spreading out the launches across the globe?

Who knows?

We’ve reached out to Niantic for a response.

First released in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States on July 6, the game quickly became a global phenomenon, surpassing Twitter in daily active users, and boosting Nintendo’s stock market value by over US$9 billion.

The game lets players catch Pokémon in real-world locations, which they can see using their smartphone camera. Players can capture “gyms” by defeating Pokémon parked by other players, and then depositing their monsters there to defend their turf against attacks.

The game is perhaps the most successful implementation of augmented reality yet. Its failure to launch in Japan though has frustrated longtime Pokémon fans.

The popularity of the game has supposedly inspired clones, although some might argue Pokémon Go’s elements have existed way before in other games.