The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here! Pokémon GO has been released (officially) in the UK!
That’s right. After a painful week long wait the global phenomenon that’s seen everybody suddenly become super keen on walking, is actually hitting the Google Play Store and Apple App Store this morning on this side of the pond. No more dodgy APK installs just to catch a Pikachu – This one is legit!
Some found the free-to-play app game already in the app stores when they woke up the morning, but the official Pokémon GO Twitter account didn’t hang around about breaking the news at 9:39am –
UK Trainers, the wait is over. #PokemonGO is now officially available to be installed from Google Play or iTunes.
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 14, 2016
Many have already installed and are out playing the genuine copy of Pokémon GO on iPhone and Android smartphones and it’s also been reported that the servers are working much better now, with less bugs and freezing, which is great news, and possibly confirms our earlier suspicions that the unauthorised installs and use of the APK software were causing unexpected strain on the servers at Pokémon central. Now they’re ready and it’s time to play! (Unless you’re a Windows Phone owner – Yeah, sorry about that).
Trainers, only install Pokémon GO via the Play Store or App Store. Downloads from other sources may contain malware or viruses.
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 11, 2016
We’re not sure if your existing Pokedex will carry over to the lawful copy of the game, if you’ve already signed up to Pokemon GO on the leaked APK (we will test this and update). But for now we’re just excited to get the news out and you can download now from Google Play for Android and the App Store for iOS. Now the game is out there to pretty much the whole world, we can expect updates to soon follow which are said to include the chance to trade Pokémon with fellow trainers.
[UPDATE:]
We can now confirm that all your Pokemon data from the APK install will carry across to the official Google Play released app. You will notice that when you go to install the app it will offer an update. Accept the update and you’ll be playing the game lawfully and all your captured Pokemon and progress will still be right there in the game!
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