20 Countries Where Pokémon Go Is Available

Is your country among 20 countries where Pokémon go is available? The latest gaming mania that has been wreaking havoc (in more ways than one) on the streets of many cities around the globe hasn’t been released everywhere at once. This has naturally caused some consternation among the wannabe trainers whose countries have been left out.

The game developer Niantic has been a victim of their own success. Apparently, their servers haven’t been able to handle the traffic from all the players that wanted to engage in Pokémon hunting. The original released on July 6th saw Pokémon Go in three countries, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. The success of the game was overwhelming and servers struggled with the traffic load, so much so that Niantic CEO John Hanke issued a statement that the planned release in Europe will be postponed until the company addresses the issues. Finally, European trainers were able to play the game starting from July 13th, with most of the countries being covered in the next 10 days. As the servers’ capacity was increased, so was the list of countries where Pokémon go is available, reaching Asia and South America by the end of July. While never praised for its interesting story, the game has almost immediately upon release became the most popular mobile game of all time. And, if you are more into games with great stories don’t miss our list of 7 Android games with the best story lines.

The lack of availability led to some interesting developments. In South Korea, a country obsessed with gaming and the world’s 4th largest gaming market, Pokémon Go isn’t available. The holdup is caused by the national security concerns, due to game’s access to digital mapping, something considered sensitive data by the government, and fear of North Korea somehow gaining valuable intelligence on its southern neighbor. Considering all those maps are already in the public domain for years, it is hard to explain this by anything else but bureaucratic nonsense. Once every Nintendo and Niantic manage to obtain every stamp and signature needed to prove they aren’t secretly aiding Kim Jong-un in his plot to overtake Korean peninsula, Korean players will be able to enjoy the game. Until then, they have to make do. Fortunately, there are areas that have been accessible, due to various glitches, like the one around Sokcho, a city in the northeastern part of the country. Local entrepreneurs quickly seized the opportunity and established bus tours with free WiFi from Seoul, shuttling gamers to Pokémon-rich grounds. Another glitch caused a gym to appear right next to Korean Demilitarized Zone but was shut down by Niantic, probably in fear that North Korea will misinterpret a host of Pokémon players roaming around the border as a prelude to the invasion.

Chinese Pokémon trainers have also been denied a chance to catch ‘em all. The Great Chinese Firewall is blocking them from accessing game servers, leading to a mass purchase of Australian App Store IDs and GPS spoofing software, which enabled them to play.

Some countries go to even greater lengths to prevent its citizens from playing Pokémon Go. In Saudi Arabia, religious authorities have issued a fatwa against the game, due to the symbols that appear in the game, like six-pointed star and cross. Breaking a fatwa can have some serious consequences, hence the omission of Saudi Arabia from our list of countries where Pokémon go is available.

Although a few countries have used extreme measures like Saudi Arabia, almost all have issued a police warning about Pokémon Go, urging the players to be careful while playing the game and be mindful of their surroundings. Considering that the players have already caused several fatal accidents, it seems that warnings haven’t done much good.

We’ve listed 20 countries where Pokémon go is available according to the average daily usage of the app. Below each country you’ll find how many minutes the average Pokémon Go user has spent playing the game each day.

20. Croatia

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 13.1

We kick off with Croatia. Each user that has downloaded Pokémon Go in this small Balkan country has spent more than 13 minutes every day playing it.

19. Greece

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 16.8

One of the rare upsides of high unemployment in Greece is that it leaves a lot of free time for wild Pokémon hunting. Not much of a silver lining, though.

18. Portugal

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 20.1

Unlike some other countries on our list, Portugal’s climate allows for a pleasant experience while hunting Pokémon.

17. Romania

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 23.1

What type of Pokémon should be located near the Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania?

16. Spain

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 25.9

Another country on our list of countries where Pokémon go is available with a pleasant climate and a huge number of Pokémon trainers.

15. United Kingdom

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 26.4

Not even the infamous British weather can stop Pokémon trainers in their pursuit to catch ‘em all.

14. Poland

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 27.2

Poland maybe can’t go into space, but it certainly can into Pokémon Go. The game has taken the country by a storm. One of the first Pokemon Go tournaments was held in Warsaw in July.

13. Italy

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 28.1

If you’re going to roam the streets hunting the fictional monsters, you could hardly find a better place than Italian cities. The mixture of beautiful architecture and pleasant climate makes it easy to see why this game is so popular in Italy. Of course, you’ll miss the scenery almost entirely because you’ll be staring at your phone, but maybe you’ll luck out and catch Snorlax. Some would agree that’s a decent trade-off.

12. Germany

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 31.4

When a country renowned for its seriousness and no-nonsense approach to life spends half an hour each day on a game, you know you have a global phenomenon on your hands. Maybe Volkswagen management should take a look at how Niantic handle business and learn a thing or two.

11. Switzerland

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 33.0

If an average Swiss Pokémon player spends 33 minutes every day in the game that leaves a very serious question. Well, two actually. Who is watching over banks and who is making chocolate?

10. Belgium

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 33.4

Belgian biggest mobile carrier Proximus decided to offer a free data plan for Pokémon Go users. One of their customers, with a Reddit name of mewtwo_captured, decided to play around with that and was caught cheating, resulting in Niantic banning all Proximus IPs, effectively cutting off the almost entire country from Pokemon servers for 24 hours. Nice job, mewtwo_captured. I’m sure Belgian gamers are delighted with your success.

9. Netherlands

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 33.7

Pokémon Go is causing major problems for the Dutch police, as the number of people apparently aimlessly walking around with their eyes glued to their phones increases.

8. Sweden

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 33.7

Scandinavians also aren’t immune to Pokémon mania that has engulfed the planet. They claimed the 8th spot on the list of 20 countries where Pokémon go is available by the mere second in front of the Netherlands.

7. Canada

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 35.5

We are continuing our list of countries where Pokémon go is available with Canada. Do Canadians say sorry to wild Pokémon they capture?

6. Australia

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 38.5

Perhaps the Australians have finally discovered the way of exploring every last remote corner of their vast country. Apparently, all it would take is for Niantic to provide several strategically placed PokéStops and gyms.

5. Austria

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 38.8

The classic Vienna architecture hardly seems compatible with the high-tech world of Pokémon Go, but that hasn’t stopped Austrians from enjoying the game.

4. Czech Republic

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 39.2

The Czechs have finally found something as interesting as beer and football. These two can easily find themselves replaced as the national past time if Pokémon Go popularity keeps increasing.

And now, let’s see the top three countries where Pokémon go is available.

3. United States

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 41.2

With some 20 million active users each spending 41 minute a day on Pokémon Go Americans burn a lot of time on this game. With the amount of walking the game requires, this could be an answer to nation’s obesity epidemics.

2. New Zealand

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 44.9

New Zealand is a top ranking non-European nation on our list, with almost 45 minutes spent daily on Pokémon Go.

1. Finland

Pokémon Go Daily Usage (minutes per day) 52.3

One explanation for Finland being on top of our list of 20 countries where Pokémon go is available could be that once winter arrives there won’t be much walking outdoors, especially for such trivial reasons as a video game. Then again, Finns are known as tough people, well adapted to cold.