How to Download Pokémon GO If It Hasn’t Released in Your Country

The widely popular game from Nintendo is not officially available outside the United States, and in select countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Denmark, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Iceland, Greenland, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia, Belgium, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia, Hong Kong and the whole of Latin America; but you need not worry. Here is how you can still download it even if you are outside these regions.

Use a VPN

Normally, what happens when you to try to access something is, your browser sends a request to the web server of the site from you want to download content. This request contains the IP address of the computer or mobile device that it is sent from.

The web server looks at the IP address associated with the content access request, and determines your geographical location in the real world. It is your Internet Service Provider that assigns you an IP address, and they are allocated a range of IP addresses by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to avoid conflict. This information has made public on what we call an internet registry, and it is safe to assume that the Internet Service Provider only serves customers in their own geographical area. The chances of a Mumbai-based ISP serving a subscriber in Manila are extremely slim.

The web server then makes a decision whether or not to allow access to the content, based on the real-world location the request originated from.

So if you belong to a country where the game hasn’t been officially released, the best way to download it is by using a Virtual Private Network or VPN. A physical server, located in a country where the game is allowed, comes between you and the internet. This server (also called VPN server) intercepts the outgoing content access request, replaces your IP address with that of its own, and then forwards it to the web server. The web server sees the IP address of the VPN server and determines it to be from a country where the game has been released, so it allows access to the content. It is the VPN server that actually downloads the game, but it is sent to you so that you can install it on your iOS or Android device and you can enjoy playing Pokémon GO.