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The country that created Pokémon still hasn’t seen an official Pokémon Go release. Imagine being the dude who has to tell folks in Japan that they need to wait a bit more before that happens. Kento Suga is said dude.




Yes, Pokémon Go was playable in Japan for a spell yesterday for those who downloaded the game from the US App Store. Not everyone did, of course, and many fans continue to wait for the official release.


As Tech in Asia points out, Niantic Asia’s marketing guy Kento Suga has been politely telling said fans that the game isn’t quite ready. The response he’s gotten hasn’t always been equally polite!

Do know that if you search Pokémon Go in Japanese, many comments are people saying they really want to play the game or that the meet-ups look fun. (There are also translations of stories like this and this.) Not everyone is being irritable and snappy!

Suga, however, has been getting replies like this when he tweeted in Japanese to ‘wait a bit more’ on July 6:

“Tell me the damn release date.” “The heck does ‘a little bit more’ mean anyway? If you can’t do it, say that from the start. What are you, a politician?” “Is making us wait three or four more days ‘a little bit more’? I have no idea why this isn’t being released when it’s finished. I’m not saying release the game right now, but explain why you can’t release it in Japan.” “Can I play today between noon and 1pm? Is that what you’re saying?”

The next day, he tweeted again that he was sorry that everyone in Japan continued to have to wait for the game. To which people replied:

“I can’t wait any longer... I’m starting to get annoyed!” “Please tell us why Japan is getting such a late release. The words ‘a little bit’ are like causing my brain to melt with stress.” “What is the reason? And it’s a Japanese game! Why?” (Eds note: Niantic, an American studio, developed Pokémon Go.) “Not much info... Please release the game asap.” “Is the Japan release delayed? If that’s the case, then erase all of Nintendo’s foreign companies. Pokémon is a game that Japan made, right? I think that by all rights, we should get the release first... This isn’t, like, the level of being nice to others (lol), and no doubt you’re probably feeling good that it’s popular abroad! It sucks here!” “I await tomorrow.” “A July release seems hopeless. It feels like it will be August.” “It’s a Japanese game, so why don’t you release it?” “Please release it as soon as possible...”

I imagine folks in Europe are getting antsy, too.