The Pokemon Company and Niantic have recently announced that field testing for "Pokemon Go" is expanding to Australia and New Zealand.

In a blog post by the company, it mentions that users who are interested in testing the game out and are living in Australia and New Zealand can click this link: http://pokemongo.nianticlabs.com where they will be directed to a sign-up page. However, the company warned that signing up does not guarantee access to the field test. It can also be recalled that the purpose of the field test is to check the game and provide feedback to the developers for necessary changes. This means it is still not the final product and a lot of elements are subject to change.

This news sparked discussions among fans on why the company chose Australia and New Zealand as the next areas for field testing. In a Reddit post, one fan mentions that the reason why Australia and New Zealand were chosesn is probably to see if players can do a challenge like "catch a 'Pokemon' within five minutes" or to find out what the players can do in situations where there is a lack of Pokestops. Also, Australia and New Zealand are rural regions with a lot of native environments for "Pokemon" to be located.

According to Niantic's previous blog:

"Players will explore their surroundings to find and catch wild Pokémon. Certain wild Pokémon only appear in their native environments; for example, Water-type Pokémon may only appear near lakes and oceans." 

This information supports the fan's post regarding why the company chose these areas for the next field test.

For those who are unfamiliar, Pokestops are locations where players can get special items like Pokeballs. These are located at "interesting places like public art installations, historical markers, museums, and monuments." This means that not only is the game an adventure game to enjoy but it is also a way to encourage people in the area to see and discover historical sights, thus boosting tourism.

Fans and gamers are now hoping that their country would be the next chosen area for field testing.