Games

'Pokémon GO' Asia Release Date Hinted In Malaysia? Niantic Shuts Down Pokévision, Other Third-Party Trackers

Jazz Rosin

Almost a month into the "Pokémon GO" mobile game craze and there is still no signs of it slowing down.

The mobile game, developed by Niantic Labs, has landed in Japan and Hong Kong recently, but the rest of Asia is still waiting for the game to be launched in their respective countries.

Aspiring Pokémon masters in Malaysia were given a slight glimmer of hope, however.

According to The Ideal Mobile, Malaysian prepaid brand Hotlink, run by telecommunications company Maxis Berhad, has announced a collaboration with Grab called PokéMobile.

This collaboration allows Pokémon Trainers in Malaysia to get free rides to the nearest Pokéstop, while lucky customers can receive $100 worth of PokéCoins by being chosen as the "trainer of the day."

While there is no official launch date announced on the page, Malaysian Pokémon fans are taking this as a positive sign that the game will be launched in their country very soon. However, we have yet to hear from the devs themselves.

In other news, Niantic Labs has shut down popular tracking app Pokévision, along with other third-party tracking apps.

The app, which displays the exact location of Pokémon in "Pokémon GO" via Google Map, was unavailable this morning. The creators of the app then took to Twitter to confirm that they were indeed shut down by Niantic themselves.

The Pokévision devs released a statement saying that they respect the decision of Niantic Labs and Nintendo regarding this issue.

The takedown happened following the comments made by Niantic CEO John Hanke about third-party tracking apps.

"I don't really like that. Not a fan," Hanke told Forbes during a recent interview. "We have priorities right now but they might find in the future that those things may not work."

Hanke went on to say that the apps are made possible by hacking into the game's data, which is against the company's terms and conditions.

The move has angered most "Pokémon GO" players, as the removal of tracking apps, plus the recent in-game tracking update, left them completely blind.

Stay tuned for more "Pokémon GO" updates.

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