14 DAY TRIAL // Pokemon Go has become an Internet phenomenon all over the world, despite the fact that the game has only been released in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Germany. And it’s exactly this thing that’s determining Nintendo to go after websites hosting the APK and making Pokemon Go available for users living in countries where the game cannot be downloaded from the store.
Although we’re pretty sure that this is happening too late because anyone who wanted to play Pokemon Go has already downloaded the APK, it appears that Nintendo is now submitting takedown notices to Google in order to help prevent the spread of the Android version of the game.
The stand-alone APK file was the easiest way to install Pokemon Go on an Android device in a country where the game wasn’t yet launched, and for some reason, Nintendo has decided to no longer allow users to turn to this method to play the game.
APK websites still serving the file
Several websites, including torrent trackers, are targeted by these takedown requests, and although the APK is slowly being removed from a number of pages, it appears that websites that are specifically focused on serving APKs to users aren’t yet involved in the global Pokemon Go APK crackdown.
Certainly, it’ll be impossible for Nintendo to remove all APKs from the web, especially because the files are also stored in locations that aren’t necessarily known for serving files to Android users, and the majority of players have already downloaded the APK and saved it locally on their devices.
On the other hand, it’s worth noting that this “piracy” crackdown is only targeted at the Android version, as the iOS flavor of Pokemon Go can only be downloaded exclusively from the store in locations where Nintendo has already launched the game.
And yet, we all know that this isn’t a barrier for those who want to play the game on the iPhone because many users created US accounts for the App Store in order to download Pokemon Go legitimately and without waiting for Nintendo to launch it in their countries.