Pokemon Go to Launch in Japan on Wednesday

Pokemon Go is finally coming to Japan. TechCrunch is reporting the extremely popular mobile app will be released in Japan tomorrow, nearly two weeks after initial launch in Australia and the United States.

Niantic delayed their Japanese launch due to concerns about server capacity. Pokemon Go's servers have been plagued with issues since its release, and Niantic wanted to add additional servers before launching the game.

The game suffered widespread outages over the weekend as Niantic launched the game in 26 European countries and Canada, but two separate hacking groups claimed responsibility for the attacks.

According to TechCrunch, Pokemon Go's Japanese launch will also be tied to their first sponsored content. McDonald's 3,330 Japanese locations will become Pokemon Go gyms, marking the first time that Pokemon Go will have sponsored locations. A datamine of Pokemon Go's coding revealed a McDonald's logo in the game, hinting that McDonald's would have some sort of partnership in the game. McDonald's Japanese locations are already running a Happy Meals promotion tied to the Pokemon franchise.

The game is highly anticipated in Japan, where the Pokemon franchise has remained extremely popular since its release twenty years ago. Nintendo, which co-owns the Pokemon franchise with The Pokemon Company, has seen its stock soar on the Japanese stock market over the last two weeks thanks to the game.

(via TechCrunch)