TOPSHOT - A gamer uses the Pokemon Go application on his mobile in the main fish market in Kuwait City on July 14, 2016. - AFP 

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications warned smartphone users against downloading the Pokemon Go game, which became a hit in most countries around the world. Assistant Undersecretary Hamad Al-Qattan said the ministry is discussing means of protection from such games with the Communications and Information Technology Authority, as such games may cause harm to its users in particular and the society in general. Users of this app may be in danger and may face road accidents due to their preoccupation with game while driving, or while crossing roads, Qattan said in a statement released to the press yesterday.

The Interior Ministry had issued a statement Friday warning users of the mobile phone application from taking pictures of any vital government, military or security location. It also warned players not use the app at mosques, shopping centers, malls and oil installations. "No excuses will be accepted by anyone claiming ignorance of the law," Undersecretary Lieutenant General Suleiman Al-Fahad warned in the statement. The game has seemingly caused concern in Kuwait and other GCC states after players noticed that locations in the app designated to collect in-game items have mostly been designated to public places such as malls, mosques and in certain cases police stations.

The official Pokemon website urges the app users to look for 'PokeStops' located at interesting places, such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments. The exact criteria of how locations are specifically chosen remain unclear. PokÈmon Go's database is based on a portal database used by the game's developer Niantic for a previous game called 'Ingress;' a similar location-based augmented-reality game development by the same company. In that game, 'portals' were created by the players themselves.