Niantic has delayed the launch of Pokémon Go in Japan, which was set to happen later today, TechCrunch reported.

This comes after an e-mail from the game’s sponsor, McDonalds Japan, which contained the launch date, leaked on various forums.

McDonalds has agreed to become the first paying sponsor of the game, turning its 3,000 stores in Japan into Pokémon gyms where players can battle.

A morning launch was pushed back to the afternoon when the leak went viral, but the launch was postponed indefinitely over concerns that the hype generated would overload the game.

Citing sources, TechCrunch said that the launch was “imminent”, but unspecified, The Nikkei newswire reported that the Japanese launch could happen as early as Thursday (21 July).

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