Pokemon Go players in India are growing by the day. Even though the game has not officially been released in India, many players are playing it by downloading the APK (Android Application Package, used for downloading apps) on Android. The country is now ranked 4th in terms of APK downloads.
But some users are complaining that they can't find any Pokemon or Pokestops in their area. A Redditor located in the North East complained that he has found just one Pokemon in days. What could be the reason?
As we explained in this post, the Pokemon Go map is linked with game maker Niantic's earlier game, called Ingress. Ingress has 'portals' and turns out that the location of these portals coincides with the location of Pokestops in Pokemon Go.
You can check this by opening the Ingress map for your area on the web. Upon running this check we found two portals in Guwahati, whereas places such as Gangtok and Shillong didn't have any. This can happen if a specific area doesn't have many Ingress players. Portals can also fade away with time if they are not active.
But worry not, for there is a solution. Pokemon Go now has a page where you can request for new Pokestops. Users can go to the website and submit different requests. So you can request for Pokestops if your area doesn't have any.
Other requests include reporting fake and dangerous Pokestop locations. In the US, accidents have reportedly been caused by Pokestops located in dangerous places. One player fell into a lake while playing the game.
The request form also includes modifications for small and medium businesses, as many stores are trying to earn more money from the game.
Players are also discovering that their own homes could be a Pokestop or a Gym, and they can request for its removal.
Pokemon Go has begun their European roll-out. The game was released in Germany and UK earlier this week. Today, it has been released in Spain, Italy and Portugal. The game has broken several records, including beating Candy Crush to become the most popular game in the US. It is now bigger than Snapchat and Twitter in terms of daily active users.