If you haven’t seen this new petition to bring Pokemon GO to Asia, then you need to, if only just to show Niantic what Asia is really made of.

Previously, a petition was made to make Pokemon GO playable on phones powered by Atom-processor chips. It succeeded after 40k signatures, and update 0.29.2 was released!

This new ipetition for Niantic to talk to Asia about the status of Pokemon GO is definitely welcome, especially since we have heard nary a drop of news from Niantic’s official channels.

Currently at 7,401 signatures, the petition has already gathered people from over 17 APAC countries. (which is 7 more than ASEAN, cough, cough.) Here are some of the comments on the petition page, ranging from reasonable to hilarious:

Thank you Joseph Lim.

Translation: I know being an engineer is difficult, but Niantic’s PR has really screwed up when it comes to Asia.

There are literally billions of people in Asia!

YES IT IS GENERALLY SAFE IN SINGAPORE TOO.

Even some foreign friends joining in the discussion. People from 11 different non-Asian countries like Belgium, Sweden and Finland have signed the petition as well.

Tell A Friend!

xrissa, the redditor behind the petition intends to write an official letter to Niantic when the petition reaches 10k signatures. Drafted with the help or /r/pokemongo, the letter will request that Niantic communicate to Asia when they are releasing the game.

It’s great to see people coming together for a common interest. I think that the petition is a great idea, even if just to quell rumours circling around Asia. I can’t wait to get my hands on the game, and I’m sure plenty of people are eager too.

When we asked xrissa about the petition, she said, “[I] don’t know how many signatures it’ll take”.  “[If] it hits 10k, I’ll be happy, seeing as how it’s a combined effort from all the listed countries above.”

“On the whole, my main aim for the petition is to get them (Niantic) to be open with us and not leave us in the dark. At least if they give us a clear statement on when they will open in Asia, it would put us at ease. They’ve already messed up by not making it a truly global release, so the best course of action is knowing when exactly they will release it here.”

What’s In It For You?

From what we have seen online, it’s obvious that Pokemon Go is incredibly hot even in Asia. The formal letter will be our call to make Niantic notice the entire region and possibly think about starting their server releases in the smaller APAC cities as a test beforehand.

With consistent server crashes after every launch, Niantic would do well to test out their game in smaller APAC countries with existing server infrastructure first. Singapore, Korea or even India comes to mind.

It is unfortunate that Niantic’s communication with Asia so far has given no clear release date. As Asia is a popular hotspot for tourists, imagine if you have to fight against 6k, 7k CP Pokemon in Gyms on the day of release! That would be ridiculous.

All in all, I hope that Niantic will at least create an official Asia website for updates on Pokemon Go’s status. That will make everyone’s hearts and minds rest easier knowing that we have a reliable place for news. -Vulcan Post