While we've been covering Pokémon Go stories, as has every other news site out there, the augmented reality game is yet to make its way to South African shores. Exacerbating things is the fact that developer Niantic Labs has released Pokémon Go in 15 new countries, and sadly SA has not made the cut yet. 

The official Pokémon Go Facebook page confirmed the news with a posting over the weekend, as Niantic Labs aims to expand the mobile game's availability in Asia. To that end, would-be Pokémon trainers in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and more will be able to catch 'em all. Curiously though, China, South Korea and India have not made the list, which leaves out three potentially major markets for the game.  

While no official explanation has been received for the game's lack of roll out in the Middle East and Africa, Niantic Labs CEO John Hanke did tell Forbes that they are having trouble expanding the game to South Korea, as the country's access to Google Maps is severely restricted. While this might explain why China, where a majority of Google services are blocked, also didn’t make the cut, it does not make clear why South Africa has been left in the lurch. 

We only hope the game gets here before interest in it dries up completely.