"Pokemon GO" has taken the world by storm since its release last summer. But however popular the AR game might be, its being available in China now looks from slim to none. As it is, China has banned "Pokemon GO" and other similar AR games until they have proven that the games will not pose any security risks to the country.
China's decision to ban 'Pokemon GO' is due to its potential risks
In a report, Reuters has mentioned that the security and safety risks that "Pokemon GO" pose is the major reason why the game will not be available in China anytime soon. Aside from the controversial concerns for privacy of the geolocation app game, Niantic's most popular mobile game has been blamed for causing accidents - some of it even fatal - on the road. The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television responded that the Chinese government has censored the AR game from Niantic to ensure the safety of property, of people and even national security.
The government are also evaluating the many more risks that the game possibly offers like threats to transport, consumers' personal safety and the security of geographical information. During the early days of "Pokemon GO", players in Taiwan have been reported to go stampeding just to catch rare Pokemon. Other alarming reports involving the augmented reality game include dead bodies of players, muggings and car crashes due to playing the game while driving cars.
'Pokemon GO' may not be available to China anytime soon
Another reason why "Pokemon GO" might not be a success in China is that it uses Google Maps, which happens to be another Google service that is already blocked in China. Theoretically, this would make playing Niantic's mobile game in China next to impossible. This also puts other AR games on the same page since China will not let such games be played unless all security risks they pose are cleared. Niantic has not yet responded to the ban of their game in the Asian country. But Kotaku reported that a representative speaking on behalf of the American software development company had no further comment on the matter and simply said that they are "focused elsewhere at the moment."
