South Koreans Rush To Sokcho For Pokemon Go (Photo : Jean Chung/Getty Images)
Niantic, Pokémon Go maker postponed the schedule launch of the game in Japan after an email leaked in several internet forums in the country. It is said that the leaked email might generate a hype that could overload the game and their servers might go down just like what happened recently.
A source told Tech Crunch that the internal communication (which contains the details of the launch) from the game's sponsor, McDonald's Japan was leaked to so several internet forums such as 2ch (Japan's Reddit) and Imgur. The incident made the companies behind the game to postpone the launch.
McDonald's has agreed to be the game's first paying sponsor. It is said that 3,000 stores in Japan will turn into "gyms" where Pokémon GO gamers can battle. This will drive real-world traffic to the fast food restaurant.
It is said that the original plan is just to move the launch from early morning to afternoon when the email went viral. However, the companies decided to completely cancel the launch yesterday. There are no updates at the moment as to when the game will launch but they said that the launch is going to happen soon but there is no particular time.
The news will definitely leave many Japanese Pokémon fans sad as they still have to wait. However, for the Nintendo, Niantic and the Pokémon Company, launching the game properly is still important to make sure that their server can handle the huge demand that the game will generate in Japan.
Meanwhile, the success of the Pokémon GO gave Nintendo a huge leap on market value. The gaming company's market value was doubled since the game was launched early this month. However, some analysts are concerned that the stock may be overvalued, Market Watch reported.
Sumito Takeda, a UBS analyst said that the run-up in the stock since the Pokémon GO was launched early this month might not be justified when considering the company's fundamentals like its earnings. He also said that the rapid expansion of the market cap is hard to explain.
However, the news affected the shares of Nintendo, the company who owns the Pokémon brand. It dropped to almost 13 percent after the cancelation of the game's launching in Japan was reported.
