The Biggest Pokémon Expansion Yet Officially Releases This Week
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are launching the first chapter of the Expansion Pass for Pokémon Pokopia this week, marking a major update to one of the franchise's biggest recent releases. Pokopia, a cozy life-simulator spin-off that departed from the series' usual catching-and-battling formula, proved unexpectedly popular after launching earlier this year, and this new content represents the first of several planned expansions to the game.
The paid downloadable content takes players beneath the waves, with an underwater setting central to the new chapter, alongside a substantial free update available to all players that significantly expands the base game. This is the first of three planned instalments in the Expansion Pass, with further paid and free content expected to follow.
In short
- Pokémon Pokopia's first DLC chapter launches this week
- Underwater expansion is part one of a three-part Expansion Pass
- A large free update also arrives for all players simultaneously
Explained simply
Pokémon is a long-running Nintendo game franchise owned by The Pokémon Company, best known for games about discovering and battling creatures. Pokémon Pokopia is a spin-off that takes a different approach: it is a life simulator, where players spend time building and developing a Pokémon-filled world.
An Expansion Pass is a paid package of extra game content released in instalments. Pokopia’s pass is planned to have three chapters, while a separate free update adds more to the main game for all players. Together, these additions matter because they extend a popular recent release and show how its world will grow over time.
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