As ‘Pokémon GO’ Takes Off, Niantic Puts Roll-Out On Hold | TechTree.com

As ‘Pokémon GO’ Takes Off, Niantic Puts Roll-Out On Hold

Servers crash as the game’s popularity takes the creators by surprise.

 

Anyone born after 1991 knows that Pokémon is scarcely less than a revolution. From Game Boys to movies to an anime show, the franchise has met with enthusiasm from its fans on all fronts.

The story is the same with Pokémon GO, the augmented reality mobile game which launched this month. In fact, the fans’ rabid enthusiasm has caused servers to crash left, right and centre.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CmydPFqXgAAnOAf.jpg
Image from: @dunathema

In the words of Twitter user Princess Kylo Ren (@KyKy_17): “#PokémonGO is literally breaking the Internet”.

Sorry, Kim K, but hey, you tried.

The problem is that despite the game being ‘officially’ launched only on Android and iOS devices in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, its APK file is available for download (on Android only, sorry) in other countries too, so it’s actually pretty widely available, and users are taking full advantage of this. So much so that the servers have gone thud even in the ‘official’ countries.

As a result, Niantic, the co-creator of the game along with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android, had put the wider international roll-out of the game until the problem has been rectified.

According to Niantic CEO John Hanke, despite knowing that the game would be well-received, they were taken off-guard by the sheer scale of the Pokémon phenomenon.

"We thought the game would be popular, but it obviously struck a nerve," Hanke told Business Insider. That’s certainly one way of putting it.

Hanke further added that the company was hard at work on a solution, and had already made significant progress in fixing the problem.

I certainly hope so; I know a few people who might fling their phones against the wall should a Pokémon game shut down on them.


TAGS: Pokemon GO

 
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