How to Download Animal Crossing Pocket Camp in the Philippines

UPDATE: Animal Crossing Pocket Camp has officially released on several territories. Guide updated accordingly.

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp for mobile went live for several territories on November 21, 2017 but sadly, the Philippines isn't included in the game's supported countries list. For reference, Pokemon Go went live internationally last July 6, 2016 but we had to wait until August 6, 2016 before we can officially download it. Miitomo launched in the US on March 17, 2016 but its official regional launch here wasn't until November 16, 2016. Fire Emblem Heroes went live last February 2, 2017 but it has yet to appear in our region even after waiting for 9 months.

Waiting for the official regional release of the game is certainly an option. We can't recommend third-party APK sources or QooApp as per our community guidelines but you are always free to use them at your own risk. Aside from the probability that certain questionable sources may harbor unwanted security threats, Nintendo is also known to restrict gameplay and issue bans on players who use rooted devices, emulators, or modified third-party APKs in their other mobile games such as Fire Emblem Heroes.

The workarounds we currently recommend below will not compromise your accounts as these methods will allow you to download the official app from the official Play Store and App Store themselves, not from third-party sources. Like in Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp doesn't use location data as well. You can use your normal Philippine ISPs after installing the game. Spoofing locations to cheat/bypass key gameplay mechanics in Pokemon Go is also a whole different ball game compared to these.


ANDROID

Instructions

• Use a free VPN service. For example, you can use Tunnelbear VPN.
• Start Tunnelbear and register an account for free.
• Go back to the Tunnelbear app and select United States.
• Toggle the Connect button to start the VPN service.
• Go to your phone's Settings and unlink your Google account from Accounts.
• Once your account has been removed, go back to the Settings main screen, select Apps, then find the Google Play Store app.
• Tap Force stop, confirm, then tap Clear data and finally Clear cache.
• Open the Google Play Store app and enter your *login requirements.
• Search for the Animal Crossing Pocket Camp app and download it.
• After the installation finishes, go back to the VPN app and disconnect. You can play the game without using VPN.

Notes

• *If you already used your Google account for in-app purchases for other games in the past, your location settings may be locked. This means that you won't be able to download the app even if the VPN is active. As a solution, please try to use a different Google account that has yet to purchase anything from the Play Store in Step 6 above. After the download, you can then unlink this Google account and re-link your main one later on.
• Animal Crossing Pocket Camp only supports Android 4.2 or newer with 1GB or more of RAM although some devices may not be compatible despite having the required OS version.
• The app may not support rooted or jailbroken devices.
• You can download the game for free and enjoy the game as is but in-app purchases are also an option.
• Internet connection (Wi-Fi, 3G, or 4G) is required to play the game.
• A 200+ MB patch (two separate downloads) will be available after opening the game for the first time and completing the tutorial section.
• You may need to use your VPN again on every version update on the Play Store.

iOS

Instructions

• Open the App Store on your iPhone and Sign Out.
• Access Animal Crossing Pocket Camp through this link.
• Choose Change Store when the message prompt appears. You can find the game under the Games section if it didn't directly load for some reason.
• Choose Get.
• Create a new Apple ID with an unused email address when the message prompt appears.
• You can choose None in the Payment Method page. You will still need to fill up a legitimate US address but you can use Google to find a random one.
• Be sure to check your email address for the verification code.
• You should be able to access this link after verifying your account so you can download the game. Finally, you can revert to your main Apple ID once the download finishes.

Notes

• Write the login details of your US Apple ID account down to be extra safe. You may need to sign back in when you are required to update the app in the future.
• if you are getting a "Checking info..." prompt when you are trying to access the Playstore, try to activate "GhostBear" mode on the TunnelBear app and try again.
• Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is supported on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices running iOS 9.0 or newer, iPhone (5s and newer), iPod touch, and iPad devices with 64-bit processors.
• Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
• The app may not support rooted or jailbroken devices.
• You can download the game for free and enjoy the game as is but in-app purchases are also an option.
• Internet connection (Wi-Fi, 3G, or 4G) is required to play the game.

Please join the Pinoy Animal Crossing Facebook subgroup as we have a dedicated thread where you can add friends in Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.

Original background photo from Rizal Knights