On Wednesday, it became the biggest mobile game in USA history.
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Pokemon Go now holds the record of most downloadable Smartphone app in the United States thereby raising the company stock value by 11 million within one week.
Malware: So far, the app is only available in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, which has given cybercriminals an opportunity to capitalize on the demand.
“People seemed to really love that combination of Maps and Pokemon”, Niantic Labs chief executive John Hanke said.
Australia, New Zealand and the USA were the first to get their hands on the augmented reality (AR) game, but many British gamers were left envious by posts on social media, and found other ways to download the application.
Chinese Pokemon fans are now buying Australian and US App Store accounts, through China’s largest online store, to download Pokemon Go on their devices.
Co-developed by the Pokémon Company and Niantic, the game involves players running around real world points of interest and landmarks in order to find and catch Pokémon. Whenever a Pokemon is nearby, the Pokemon Go Plus lights up and user needs to press the button to throw the Pokeball.
Pokemon Go has gone down just as well with investors as players; Nintendo’s share price has risen more than 50 per cent in the last week on the back of the game’s success.
In the case of Pokemon Go, users who download the unofficial apps are likely unaware that they may be handing over access to sensitive data, Salisbury said. According to the New York Post, a New York pizzeria saw business rise 75% after it dropped a lure in the game for $10. But there’s good news as well: these won’t be intrusive ads that pop up on top of your screen as you encounter a Pokemon in the wild.
Pokemon GO releases in another major global market, this time bringing the phenomenon of real-life Pokemon training to the shores of the United Kingdom.
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Its release has added $9 billion to Nintendo’s market cap, despite the fact that Nintendo didn’t make the game.
