Pokemon Go Launches McDonald’s Gyms-Train Your Pikachu While Enjoying a Big Mac!

Pokémon GO is set to launch ‘McDonald’s gyms‘ as the hugely popular game continues to take over the globe.

Over 3,000 McDonald’s will be transformed into virtual battle areas where players can take capture an in-game tower and win in-game currency.

Players use GPS to capture, battle and train virtual creatures that appear on their mobile phone screens as if they were in the real world.

While the game has caused a raft of problems – and seen people trapse through holocaust museums and police stations – McDonald’s is hoping to cash in on the craze.

McDonald’s is hoping to cash in on the Pokemon GO craze by opening Pokemon gyms in 3,000 of its stores in Japan.

In the app’s home country of Japan, bosses hope hundreds of players will flock to its restaurants to do battle – and maybe grab a Big Mac or some fries at the same time.

News of the fast food chain’s sponsorship deal with Pokemon GO’s developer Niantic emerged after details were leaked online.

 

It now hopes it will be able to better handle the expected deluge of Japanese players, who will follow millions that have taken to the craze across Australia, the US and Europe.

In some parts it has been taken offline after the wildly popular location-based app caused a rash of problems within weeks of its release.

Jerson Lopez de Leon, from Guatemala, 18, was shot dead while playing the game with his cousin Daniel Moises Picen, 17.

 

They reportedly decided to break into a home in Chiquimula to catch one of the virtual animals, but local reports claim that Leon was then shot dead, while Picen was badly wounded in the incident.

At this stage it is not clear if any arrests have been made, however police say that they are looking for the occupants of an agricultural van seen on the road after the shooting.