Gwydion M Williams

Pokémon Go has officially launched in Japan along with the announcement that “poke-stops” and “gyms” are now located in the nearly 3,000 McDonald’s stores around Japan.

Pokémon Go is finally in Japan! And it looks like we might be eating a lot more Big Macs with “gyms” and “poke-stops” situated in McDonald’s stores around Japan.

McDonald’s have partnered up with the creator of Pokémon Go, Niantic Inc., so players will have to visit their stores in order to progress in the game in what appears to be an ingenious business move. The game has been so successful overseas that the Japanese government announced a safety campaign for young Pokémon Go users before it was even released today.

There are now 400 McDonald’s locations that are “Gym Battle” locations where players can send their Pokémon into battle. The other 2,500 stores are now “poke-stops” for players to attain essential tools for progressing in the game, such as “monster balls”. This is where McDonald’s free Wi-Fi will probably come in handy, which was announced last month.

▼ A McDonald’s store in Tokyo

ivva イワヲ

It will be interesting to see how McDonald’s profits perform over the coming weeks and whether people will actually make purchases or just enter their stores to catch Pokémon. And now that Pokémon Go has finally arrived in Japan it might be wise to review the 6 things people in Japan should watch out for when Pokémon Go lands in the country.

Will you be downloading Pokémon Go in Japan? And will you purchase something at McDonald’s to justify enhancing your Pokémon game in their locations?

Source: NariNari
Top image: Flickr/Gwydion M Williams (Edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Flickr/ivva, Pokémon Go Homepage