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‘Pokémon Go’ fever spreads across Europe as app debuts in 26 more countries

By Brad Jones July 18, 2016

milwaukee pokemon go first amendment app 1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Pokémon fever has once again taken the world in its grip, thanks to a hugely successful new app launched less than two weeks ago. Now, Pokémon Go is continuing its worldwide rollout, with 26 more European countries gaining access to the game.

Potential Pokémon masters in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland can now download Pokémon Go on their iOS and Android devices, according to a report from Android Central.

This large-scale expansion was announced by Niantic via social media over the weekend. The game’s planned release schedule was thrown off as a result of its immediate popularity, as widespread server issues prompted the developer to rethink its time frame for distributing the title to various audiences.

Making Pokémon Go available across such a broad swath of European countries simultaneously might suggest that Niantic is becoming more comfortable with the task of catering to a massive player base. However, it remains to be seen whether or not this move will have a negative effect on the game’s stability.

That being said, it’s clearly in the developer’s interests to make Pokémon Go available to all. The game already contains some intriguing monetization methods, but we’re likely to see some sponsored content introduced once the app is available to download in all regions.

Of course, Pokémon devotees are finding ways to play Go even if the app hasn’t officially launched in their country of residence. Even before the game’s launch in the United Kingdom on July 14, cellphone provider EE noted that some 350,000 customers had already started playing the game through other means.

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Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…

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