Pokemon Sword and Shield Isle of Armor Expansion – Release Date and Trailer

Nintendo has revealed new details (and a fresh trailer) for Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s upcoming Isle of Armor expansion as well as the Crown Tundra expansion.

The arguable highlight of the new information/footage is the reveal of the new Pokemon that you’ll be able to catch once these expansions are released. They include one legendary Regieleki (electric-type) Pokemon and one legendary Regidrago (dragon-type) Pokemon which will both be added as part of the Crown Tundra expansion.

That same expansion will include the long-awaited debut of the Galarian forms of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Nintendo shared some artwork of those legendary variants earlier this year, but this is the first we’ve heard of them actually being added to the game. For the record, they look great.

The upcoming Isle of Armor expansion will feature the Gigantimax forms of the final evolutions of Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Inteleon. That means that each of those forms will benefit from new G-Max moves as well. Isle of Armor will also see the addition of Azurill, Chansey, and other new Pokemon that weren’t featured in the base game as well as several Expansion Pass Pokemon which include Kubfu, Urshifu and Calyrex.

It also seems that Isle of Armor will feature a new “Max Soup” recipe which will require a series of rare items to craft but will certainly be in high demand as it allows you to grant the ability to Gigantamax select Pokemon.

Finally, Nintendo has confirmed that the Isle of Armor expansion will be released on June 17. There’s no word regarding the release date of the Crown Tundra expansion at this time.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Nintendo grows Pokemon Sword and Shield via these expansions and other DLC. While we felt that Pokemon Sword and Shield were pretty good upon their release, many fans rightfully criticized them for an apparent lack of content in comparison to previous games as well as a perceived lack of ambition for what were the first “traditional” Pokemon RPGs released for a Nintendo console.

What we’ve seen of these new expansions suggests that Nintendo is on the right track in regards to ensure that Sword and Shield enjoy a long shelf life bolstered by a constant stream of new content. Having said that, it’ll be interesting to see where Sword and Shield rank among the rest of the franchise after we’ve seen their final forms at the end of these DLC releases.