India just had its first Pokemon Go event, and the game isn’t even available here

Photo credit: Nabeel H.

Chasing Pikachu is getting huge in India. It’s not as popular as it is in the United States yet, and there are no reports of massive strange public behavior, but Indian fans are finding a global ranking for sure.

According to data from SimilarWeb, the country ranks fourth globally in terms of Pokemon Go downloads from the file hosting website APKMirror. That is a good indicator, because remember, the game isn’t even available in India yet.

And its just 3 percent of all Android devices in India, SimilarWeb told Tech in Asia, so the opportunity is clearly huge.

Graphic credit SimilarWeb.

SimilarWeb data said the fifth largest user was Indonesia, which is also playing the game with hack versions.

Effectively, Android users are downloading APK files, and iOS users are creating fake IDs to play.

On Sunday, more than 400 “trainers” got together in Bangalore for what is likely the country’s first mass Pokemon Go event, armed with smartphones and tablets.

“I had just created a page and sent invites to a dozen of my friends, and I woke up the next day to see thousands of responses,” gamer Ishaan Arya, who organized the event, told Tech in Asia.

Mothers in India must be happily surprised at their kids who are going to religious places and parks all over the city suddenly #PokemonGO

— Shiladitya M (@shiladitya) July 11, 2016