Olympians Couldn’t Play Pokémon GO and They Were Pretty Upset

PokémonGO is a popular mobile augmented reality game, available for Android and iPhone users, that was released in select countries in July of this year. Unfortunately, Brazil was not one of the countries in which PokémonGO was initially released, much to the dismay of the Olympic athletes.

It was anticipated by many that the game would be available in Rio before the Olympics; however, this prediction had not come to fruition until August 3, when the game was finally released in Brazil. On Wednesday, PokémonGO reported on its Facebook page that the game was finally available for fans and visitors in Rio as well as the Olympians.

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The Allure of PokémonGO

PokémonGO is a game that merges the real world and the virtual world and allows the player to explore their surroundings while searching for Pokémon. One aspect of the game that may appeal to Olympic athletes is that the player acts as a trainer of Pokémon. Unlike other mobile games, it encourages players to get out and be active while playing it. The game is free to play; although, it does contain some in-app purchases.

Olympic Athlete’s Initial Disappointment

When they arrived in Brazil, many Olympic athletes thought they could have fun exploring the Olympic Village while seeking out Pokémon. If only the new game had made it to Brazil in time for the summer games. Many Olympic athletes expressed their disappointment over the fact that they could not get the game at Olympic Park. Some athletes, however, had stated that the lack of PokémonGO freed up more time for training.

The disappointment of athletes and others about the lack of PokémonGO in Brazil ended on Wednesday August 3. The game had made it to Brazil just in time for the opening ceremonies on August 5. Now, athletes can use this popular mobile game to help commemorate their experiences at the Olympic games by capturing and training Pokémon to be high quality virtual athletes.