The game 's official launch began on July 6 , 2016 , with releases in Australia , New Zealand , and the United States . Due to server strain from high demand upon release , Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that the release in other regions was to be " paused until Niantic was comfortable " fixing the issues . European releases started on July 13 , and the game became available to most of the continent over the following ten days . The Japanese launch was initially reported to be on July 20 ; however , the game was delayed after a sponsorship deal with fast food chain McDonald 's was leaked , instead releasing two days later . Although the game was proposed to be released in France on July 15 , it was postponed until July 24 out of respect and due to safety concerns following a terrorist attack in Nice on July 14 . Following the shut down of third-party apps and websites in late-July 2016 — significantly reducing server strain — Niantic was able to continue pushing release worldwide . Central and South America and most of Southeast Asia subsequently saw releases in early August . Indonesia was the first Asian country to have the game playable , despite the game not being officially released in that region until August 6
terrorist attack
2016 Nice truck attack
Pokémon Go