Pokémon Go continues its global invasion this week

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pokemon go feat
Gotta catch 'em all.
Photo: Niantic Labs

Pokémon Go will continue its global invasion later this week as it expands its reach into Europe and Asia. The title has already become a smash hit, causing Nintendo shares to rocket 25 percent despite the game only being available in a small number of regions.

Pokémon Go brings everyone’s favorite Game Boy game to life like never before. It lets you find your favorite pocket monsters in the world around you, then train them up for battles against friends and Pokémon gym leaders.

The game is officially available only in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand right now, but it is already a huge success. According to data from analytics firm SimilarWeb, the game already has more users than Tinder.

Pokémon Go has already added $9 billion to Nintendo’s market value after shares surged 25 percent on Monday morning. Overwhelming demand for the game has also caused server issues that has delayed its launch in other countries.

But that’s going to change this week, according to The Wall Street Journal. In the coming days, the title will also be available to Android and iOS users in the U.K., Europe and Japan. That means you won’t need to create U.S. accounts or download dodgy APKs to get it.

And that’s something you should really try to avoid. Security firm Proofpoint reports that hackers have already created malicious Pokémon Go APKs for Android that contain the “DroidJack” malware. Once installed on your device, it has the ability to take complete control of it.

The easiest way to avoid this is to just wait until Pokémon Go becomes available where you live. But if you really have to side-load it early on your Android device, Proofpoint has some advice for ensuring you get a safe version of the APK.

If you’re an iOS user, side-loading isn’t possible — but you can create a U.S. iTunes account to get Pokémon Go early, and you don’t need to worry about DroidJack.

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