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Pokémon Go finally lands in SA

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins, ITWeb digital and innovation contributor.
Johannesburg, 05 Oct 2016
Pokémon catchers in 31 countries in Africa can now legitimately play the augmented reality smartphone game.
Pokémon catchers in 31 countries in Africa can now legitimately play the augmented reality smartphone game.

Three months after Pokémon Go pulled droves of people worldwide out from behind their computers and into the sunshine, the mobile game is now officially available in South Africa.

The free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game was an immediate success in July, surpassing app downloads of the likes of Tinder and other popular apps.

By September, it had exceeded 500 million downloads worldwide.

South Africans were among those numbers as they found ways to download the app here, by side-loading it or creating a US-based Apple account.

Public places like the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens were awash with players during the afternoons and weekends as they gathered to battle and collect more Pok'eballs.

However, the hype has died down and only 'hard-core' trainers remain. It is uncertain if the legal download will encourage a fresh wave of people to pick up the game.

The other African countries where the app is available to download from the Google Play store or iTunes include Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Chad, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Egypt, Morocco, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

Apple recently announced it was partnering with the company to create a version of the game that works with the Apple Watch.

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