Pokemon Go’s Japan launch has been delayed, following an email leak. According to a Techcrunch report, internal communication from McDonald’s Japan (the game’s sponsor) was leaked to Internet forums, detailing the launch plans. The launch was planned for today morning, but was delayed to afternoon after the leak. However, McDonalds and Niantic seem to have decided to delay the launch altogether, the report said. A Nikkei report says the game is now scheduled to launch tomorrow.
The delay in the Japanese launch amy affect other countries as well. Techcrunch’s report said that the companies behind the launch decided to delay it, fearing server issues due to the widespread hype created by the leaks. Pokemon Go has been plagued with crippling server issues since its launch, which has Niantic to postpone various international releases. India has been in line for an official launch for a while now, although the country already contributed to the game’s traffic substantially.
In fact, businesses in India have already started taking advantage of the game’s immense popularity. Fitness band maker, Goqii, even announced a Pokemon Go walk for its users this past Sunday. This is a take on the company’s Active Sundays initiative, where it calls Goqii Band users to take part in various physical activities.
Pokemon Go has reportedly made over $35 million in revenue already, and it’ll earn much more. A tie-up with McDonalds has been rumoured, while other tie-ups will also make sense.