Everyone is crazy about Pokémon GO, including Malaysians who have been waiting impatiently for it to be released in Malaysia. They have been disappointed time and time again by rumours that Pokémon GO is going to be launched. Will they be disappointed again?

 

Grab ‘Em All Faster with Hotlink

This morning, we received a special invitation from Maxis. Oddly enough, it’s for tomorrow morning! Such a short notice is often a sign that something special is coming up. A short notice is often used to prevent leaks – the fewer people know about it, the less likely the information will be leaked.

The invitation was enticingly titled “Grab ‘Em All Faster with Hotlink“, with this accompanying graphic :

There is no doubt that this Maxis event is about Pokémon GO. This has led many to speculate that this is a sign that Pokémon GO is launching in Malaysia tomorrow. Why else would Maxis resort to emailing the media about this event on a Sunday morning?

Find out all about the PokeMobile promotion that Grab and Hotlink announced today!

 

Pokémon GO Update

Speculation of an impending launch was also based on the major Pokémon GO update that was released just yesterday. That update came with the following changes / improvements :

• players can now re-customise their character
• Pokémon move sets have been rebalanced
• some spawn points have been changed
• your favourite Pokémon can be locked to prevent accidental transfers
• the footstep tracking feature has been removed, eliminating the 3-step bug
• the scan radius has been reduced

The theory is that Niantic will want to fix the major bugs before launching in new regions. The removal of the footstep tracking feature, in particular, is useful in reducing server load. That would be something Niantic would be eager to fix before launching the game in new countries.

 

Is Pokémon GO Launching In Malaysia Tomorrow?

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Unfortunately, we do NOT think Pokémon GO will be launching in Malaysia tomorrow. After carefully reading the Maxis invitation, we highlight two important key points :

• The event title – “Grab ‘Em All Faster with Hotlink“
• The event is described as “a special preview“

In our humble opinion, Maxis is probably just announcing a future promotion to capitalise on the Pokémon GO craze. Most likely, they will be partnering with Grab to offer free rides for Pokémon GO gamers to Pokestops.

In any case, stay tuned tomorrow morning for our live coverage on the Tech ARP Facebook page.

 

When Is Pokémon GO Launching In Malaysia?

The urgency of this announcement though is odd. It could mean that a Pokémon GO launch is imminent.

MMO Server Status actually lists Malaysia’s Pokémon GO servers as going live in 25 hours, together with Pokémon GO servers in Israel, China, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and South Korea.

Thanks for the heads-up, Joshua Wong from The Ideal Mobile!

A cached page also revealed that Grab will offer Hotlink users FREE rides to the nearest Pokestops between 10 AM and 7 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 2 and 3). This is definitely a sign that Pokémon GO is probably launching on Tuesday!

 

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