Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor expansion arrives later this month

Nintendo has confirmed the release date for Pokemon Sword and Shield’s first major expansion – Isle of Armor. 

The upcoming piece of downloadable content will launch on June 17th as an independent download and as part of the game’s wider expansion pass. Obviously, you’ll need to own Pokemon Sword and Shield to gain access to the new areas, creatures and other goodies. 

Earlier today, Nintendo released a new trailer for Isle of Armor, showcasing more of the expansion’s locations, Pokemon and battles. You’ll find new regional variants alongside returning personalities from the main campaign. It’s really fun, and will hopefully remedy some of the vanilla campaign’s technical shortcomings. 

Players will find themselves journeying to an all-new region in the realm of Galar with its own distinct wildlife and weather patterns. We even catch a glimpse of Galarian Slowbro, with the adorable fella dozing off amidst all the excitement. Never change, Slowbro. 

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The above trailer also provides us with a decent look at the Frozen Tundra expansion, which isn’t slated to launch until later in the year. It will also be part of the expansion pass, so players who want to access both pieces of content can purchase that and save a few pennies. You’ll even gain some special cosmetic items for pre-ordering.

Pokemon Sword and Shield is a delightful RPG, and a solid opening chapter for the iconic franchise on Nintendo’s hybrid console. Here’s a snippet from our 4/5 review: “This is an excellent entry in Game Freak’s iconic franchise, pushing the series forward in some exciting ways while never forgetting the roots that made it so loved in the first place.”

“While it underwhelms in its visuals and under-baked use of new ideas, the act of exploring Galar and catching creatures remains as delightfully compelling as it’s ever been – and that’s what really matters in the end.”