Pokémon Mania Is Taking Over Russia, and the Kremlin Is Nervous
- Game may spur political unrest in the country, officials say
- But VimpelCom and Sberbank are glomming onto the frenzy
Product Delay Weighs on Nintendo's Shares
More than a million people in Moscow are playing Pokémon Go, the mobile game that’s dominating download charts in three dozen countries. The number is especially impressive because the game isn’t supposed to be available in Russia.
Despite attempts by app developer Niantic Inc. to manage global demand, fans in Russia and elsewhere have taken special steps to track down and install Pokémon Go before it’s released officially, a process that sometimes involves tricking their phones into thinking they live in another country. Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems PJSC estimates that 1.37 million people are playing Pokémon Go on major wireless networks in Moscow, a more than seven-fold increase from a week ago.