What was the first country group to receive Pokémon Go when it launched in July 2016?

Australia, New Zealand, and the United States were the first country group to receive Pokémon Go when it launched in July 2016.

Pokémon Go was developed by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. It used smartphone location data, mapping, and augmented reality to let players find Pokémon in real-world surroundings. Its initial release date for those three markets was July 6, 2016.

The rollout then expanded in stages rather than launching worldwide at once. Germany followed on July 13, the United Kingdom on July 14, and Japan on July 22. This staggered schedule helped manage demand and server capacity during the game’s enormous first weeks.

The game’s launch is often described simply as a worldwide July 2016 release, but the country sequence matters. Japan, the franchise’s birthplace, was not in the first launch group. Pokémon Go later became one of the most prominent mobile spin-offs in the series’ 30-year history.