Pokemon Go down: Servers crash as millions try to access game

Players across Europe and the US unable to access game following overwhelming demand

Pokemon Go servers appear to have crashed leaving millions unable to play the augmented reality game.

Users across Europe and the US have complained they are unable to access the game, or that it is regularly freezing.

Players began to report problems with the game shortly after 2pm. 

A hacking group named PoodleCorp has claimed responsibility for taking down the Pokemon Go servers through a denial of service (DDOS) attack.

The problems follow the US launch of the game earlier this month, which caused servers to crash due to overwhelming demand.

The game was launched in the UK on Thursday.

All servers are understood to be down, and no estimated time when the game will be made available again has yet been given in official communications from Nintendo or Pokemon GO.

Frustrated players took to social media to complain about the problems.

Now in a panic I've lost everything as I deleted the app &downloaded it again as I thought it was my phone 😭😭😭 #pokemonproblems #pokemongo

— Steph .. ♡ (@stephwood_) July 16, 2016

Ugh, you plan to go Pokemon hunting all day and then the server's down #PokemonGO #pokemonproblems 😥

— Sabrina Martina (@SabrinaMOffic) July 16, 2016

The incident is one of many international news items relating to Pokemon Go since the launch of the game earlier this month.

A man crashed his car into a tree in New York on Friday, later admitting to police he had been distracted by the game. 

On Thursday two men in San Diego fell off a cliff after they climbed over a fence in an attempt to catch the animated characters. 

Last week a teenager from Wyoming found a dead body in a river after she climbed over a fence to go in search of Pokémon near her home.