'Pokémon Go' finally comes to Japan with McDonald's tie-up
The birthplace of Pokémon finally has access to its most wildly popular incarnation.
Pokémon Go launched on Friday in Japan, making it the first Asian stop for the mobile title that has topped the charts in every other country of its release.
Game maker Niantic announced that the game has "finally started broadcasting" in Pikachu's birth country.
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The heads of the game's co-creators, Japan's Game Freak and California-based Niantic appeared in a new video announcing the game's arrival:
In the video, John Hanke, Niantic CEO, offered a nod to Pokémon's origins, saying it "is a beautiful franchise that originated in Japan."
He added: "Keep your head up, look at the world around you, and be safe."
McDonald's tie-up
The release is part of a partnership with McDonald's restaurants in Japan. McDonald's confirmed on Friday the rumour it was involved, saying about 400 of its restaurants will be Gyms in the game, while the remaining 2,500 outlets will be PokéStops.
The partnership was first reported by the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, and mimics other partnerships Pokémon Go developer Niantic has made with its earlier game, Ingress.
On the back of the rumour of the tie-up, McDonald's Japan shares hit a 15-year high on Thursday.
So far, Pokémon Go has been a smash hit for its creators. The success in the U.S. sent Nintendo stock skyrocketing over the last week, and the company added $23 billion to its value.
Eager Japanese fans jumping on
Niantic has managed to scale the augmented reality game's launch to international countries in an attempt to keep servers online as new waves of players began catching Pokémon. Japan, the birthplace of Pokémon 20 years ago, will be the true test of those servers.
Anticipating the fever, Japanese authorities released a detailed safety advisory to wannabe trainers ahead of the launch.
Fans have already jumped on the game eagerly. By Friday noon, players had started to hit Tokyo's busy streets to catch 'em all.
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Topics Pokemon
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
