Pokemon Sword and Shield is already nearly a month old, but many fans will already be wondering what’s next for the recording breaking Nintendo Switch game. Can we expect a DLC soon?
Since the original Pokemon titles, Game Freak have done a better job of giving the latest games some longevity. Gone are the days of completing the story and having little else to do.
There has always been the extra task of completing the games’ Pokedex, but this is an activity not all trainers choose to undertake. Shiny hunting was the next big thing in Pokemon games, with the feature introduced in the Johto region, and for some this is more exciting than the story itself!
Post-games have been relatively disappointing considering the epic return to Kanto in the Gen 2 games. The next step in the evolution of Pokemon games has been competitive battling, something which Pokemon Sword and Shield are trying to take to the next level.
Nevertheless, all of this isn’t enough to keep a lot of players engaged beyond the initial story. Pokemon fans are a demanding bunch and in the year 2019 where new content is expected, this begs the question… Will we get DLC for Pokemon Sword and Shield?
Sword Shield DLC?
Before we begin to speculate, it’s important to note that The Pokemon Company have remained silent on a potential DLC. That doesn’t mean there won’t be one, though.
More Pokemon to come?
The batch of datamines that preceded Pokemon Sword and Shield’s release actually indicated some form of DLC could indeed be in the works. The Galar region Pokedex might contain 400 species, currently, but the game’s code shows there is actually 435 Pokemon in total.
The additional Pokemon include Bulbasaur, Squirtle (which may explain their strange omission from the game), Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres and various other legends. Presumably, these are all going to be added to Sword and Shield at some point.
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Adding them via DLC would make the most sense and would give trainers who have since put the game down a big reason to pick it up again. They could even spread them over two or three updates, too.
That, or Game Freak are playing a joke with us all. It seems very unlikely they’d have intended to include them in the game only to remove them for good at the last second.
A bigger post-game?
Anyone who was following the build-up to Pokemon Sword and Shield will have come across the Kalos post-game leak. It seemed too good to be true at first and it appears it was.
Everything seemed to be lining up for an incredible return to Kalos. Despite a storyline overlap, similar caves between the regions and even a supposed tease by Junichi Masuda himself, it never materialized.
Could Game Freak be keeping a huge trick up their sleeve and saving Kalos region for a huge DLC? Almost certainly not, but who knows, it would make up for the National Pokedex controversy.
Meanwhile, particular Gigantamax Pokemon are being featured on a close to monthly basis. It started with Butterfree and we’re now on a super-sized Snorlax. The question is will there be any form of content updates besides new Gigantamax Pokemon? Only time will tell but don’t expect anything before January at the earliest.