Following the release July 6 of Pokemon Go in the United States, New Zealand and Australia, Pokemon can now be found also on the streets in Turkey. The new game was an instant hit everywhere; even in countries such as Turkey, where the game is not yet officially released, tens of thousands of gamers have downloaded it on their mobile devices. Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game that utilizes the GPS and camera of an Android and iOS device; players get to see their cities like never before.

Foreign trade specialist Serkan Hizli told Al-Monitor that most players in Turkey downloaded the game after its release by changing their phones’ location to New Zealand. With the local maps downloaded on their phones, gamers go outside and travel between the real and virtual worlds. Pokemon Go gets gamers out of their homes, where they normally spend hours playing games, to search and catch Pokemon characters all around town; they play while walking, cycling or driving their cars.

In fact, Pokemon Go commercials advocate “catching them all” while on the go. The game conveniently comes to the player, who could be jogging in the woods, hiking by the lake, not missing out on life.

In regard to the way the Pokemon Go craze has come to Turkey, Hizli said, “Most players in Turkey are gamers who regularly spend a good deal of time on different social media outlets. Most of them are fairly well educated. The game is in English; however, one can manage with little knowledge of English. You can trade Pokemon, get them to evolve or even buy pokecoins with a credit card from the shop.”