Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Olympic athletes hit the gym (the Pokémon Go gym, that is)

best augmented-reality apps
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The makers of Pokémon Go on Wednesday urged everyone south of the U.S. to “break out the sneakers and Pokéballs and get ready to explore the world around you,” announcing it was “excited to officially be putting Pokémon Go in the hands of our Latin American fans, visitors, and the Olympic athletes in Rio.”

Ah yes, the Olympians. By all accounts, they’ve been getting rather frustrated at not being able to play the creature-catching game ever since they began arriving in Rio last week in preparation for the Games.

American diver Abby Johnston tweeted on Sunday that the worst thing about the Olympic village was the absence of Pokémon Go, while New Zealand soccer player Anna Green said she wished she could “run around in the [athletes’] village catching Pokémon,” lamenting that she “can’t get it on the phone … it would have been something fun to do.”

And then British slalom canoeist Joe Clarke tweeted the alarming news that there were no creatures to catch in the Olympic venues, “or in Brazil!??” To express the full extent of this devastating reality, he included a heartbroken emoji face beneath a screenshot of a deserted Pokémon Go map.

But now that the popular smartphone game has finally landed in the country, the athletes can at last hit the gym – the Pokémon Go gym, that is – while at the same time focusing on the important task of battling monsters winning a medal.

Having flipped the switch in Latin America – population 627 million with smartphone penetration at 45 percent – Pokémon Go maker Niantic will be praying everything’s in place to prevent the kind of server crash that messed up the initial launch almost a month ago.

The augmented-reality game where players search the real world for virtual pocket monsters has taken the mobile gaming world by storm, screaming past 100 million downloads in a matter of weeks and reportedly netting the company $10 million a day via in-app purchases and other deals. And with Central and South America now joining in the fun, that figure is only heading one way.

Download for iOS Download for Android

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Pokémon Go studio cancels four titles, including its Transformers game
pokemon go developer introduces ar pet game peridot

Niantic, the hitmaker behind Pokémon Go and Pikmin Bloom, is buckling up for some hard times. The company announced it has canceled the production of four games and laid off 8% of its staff.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Niantic CEO John Hanke wrote a companywide email saying that around 85 to 90 employees were getting laid off. Hanke explained that the company has been "facing a time of economic turmoil" and has resorted to "reducing costs in a variety of areas." That meant canceling four games, including Transformers game, Heavy Metal, and Hamlet.

Read more
Pokémon Go developer’s next project is an AR basketball game
pokemon go developers next project is an ar basketball game nba all world logo

Niantic is trading Pokéballs for basketballs. The Pokémon Go developer has announced its partnership with the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to develop NBA All-World, the sports entity's very first official AR mobile game.

NBA All-World | Unleash a New Era of Hoop

Read more
Pokemon Go Deino Field Notes guide
Deino standing in a cave.

Pokemon Go has been growing at a rapid pace since launch, adding in tons of new content and ways to play, as well as more Pokemon to catch of course. One of the most popular reasons to come back to the game is the Community Day events that happen each month. These limited-time events give you the chance to complete Special Research tasks to get rewards exclusive to these events.

For June 2022, we know that the Pokemon Go event will focus on the Field Notes: Deino Special Research ticket. There is a small entry fee, as usual, but tons of bonuses and, of course, the chance to get yourself a Deino. While some parts of the event won't be revealed until it starts, here's a guide on how to be fully prepared for when it drops in Pokemon Go.

Read more