Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Crown Tundra expansion releases today. There is a lot of confusion about its exact release time, which we are going to help clear up.
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It was announced a few weeks ago that the Crown Tundra expansion releases on Thursday, October 22. As that date has drawn closer trainers have begun to question what time it will release. After all, it’s a long time to wait if the exact time is unknown.
Unfortunately the Pokemon community are all in the same boat whereby nobody seems to know a conclusive release time. Let’s share what is official, though.
Pokemon HOME maintenance
Nintendo have confirmed Pokemon HOME will be down for maintenance from October 22, 23:00 UTC to October 23, 04:00 UTC. That’s an hour behind the UK.
That’s October 22, 4pm PDT to 9pm PDT and October 22, 7pm EDT to October 23rd, 12am EDT for the west and east cost of the US, respectively.
Serebii Update: Pokémon HOME is to undergo maintenance from October 22nd at 23:00 UTC to October 23rd at 04:00 UTC. A new update will be required to use it after this maintenance https://t.co/gDbXkHSvkT pic.twitter.com/3YHaq4nPRA
— Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet) October 20, 2020
Exact release time
So, why is the Pokemon HOME maintenance important in respect to the Crown Tundra release time. It’s because Pokemon Sword and Shield’s first DLC, the Isle of Armor, released following its maintenance back in June.
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While no confirmation has been given, presumably, it will be the same for the Crown Tundra. That means the exact release times are expected to be as follows:
- US West Coast – October 22, 9pm PDT
- US East Coast – October 23, 12am EDT
- UK – October 23, 5am BST
- Central Europe – October 23, 6am CEST
That means, to the disappointment of many trainers, the Crown Tundra expansion won’t release until October 23 in many regions. Something the Pokemon Company kept quiet!
Which Regi-Pokemon do you want first in the #PokemonSwordShield Crown Tundra DLC? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/t6n2RRoRuF
— Pokemon News (@PokemonSwordNS) October 13, 2020
DLC, not a new game
It has been reported elsewhere that the DLC will release at October 22, 9am PDT. However, this is for Nintendo digital-only software and not for DLCs.
“DLC for games is not added at a regular cadence. For questions about specific DLC release timing, please check the specific details for that game or verify with the game publisher,” the official Nintendo US website states.
Hopefully Nintendo will clear up any misconceptions about the exact release time but for the moment it looks like it’s a safe bet trainers can get their hands on Pokemon Sword Shield: The Crown Tundra once the scheduled Pokemon HOME maintenance finishes. We need Detective Pikachu on the case!