Pokémon Legends: Arceus is ripe for DLC, but the fate of any future content is up in the air after Gen 9 games, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, were announced to be released later this year. Now, just slightly more than a month after Legends: Arceus first launched, a lot of attention has turned to Pokémon’s upcoming Gen 9. However, in the meantime, Pokémon Legends: Arceus deserves more DLC, similar to what Sword and Shield received.

Ahead of the Gen 9 announcement, DLC for Pokémon Legends: Arceus seemed almost certain. The open areas of Hisui featured distinct biomes and Pokémon, but there was plenty of room left open for more to be added at a future date. Even the game’s main story ends with the main villain on the lam and the protagonist stuck in the past without returning home. Seemingly, this makes DLC for Legends: Arceus highly likely.

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Even Sword and Shield, which featured a more conclusive ending, received large DLC in the form of The Crown Tundra and the Isle of Armor. These DLC packs contained larger, open-world areas to explore and new Pokémon to catch. While the Hisui region has less wiggle room in terms of canonical landmasses (since it’s ancient Sinnoh), there’s not as much that can be done in terms of new areas – although a kind of Grand Underground like in Pokémon BDSP (which takes place in Sinnoh) could certainly work.

Legends: Arceus Should Add More DLC Pokémon To Its Pokédex

The real benefit to having DLC in Pokémon Legends: Arceus would be expanding its Pokédex. The game stays mostly true to the original Diamond and Pearl Pokédex (with a few added Hisuian variants and new additions). The current Legends: Arceus Pokédex sits at just under 250 species, so there are plenty of other Pokémon available to be added to the game still.

The biggest problem, of course, is the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet announcement which puts the release date of those games as late 2022. Releasing Pokémon BDSP, Legends: Arceus, and Gen 9 games within a year of one another doesn’t necessarily leave time for DLC and continued support. Although the Daybreak update recently came to Legends: Arceus and added a bit more content, it’s nothing compared to the DLC Sword and Shield received.

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For now, there’s no official statement on whether or not Legends: Arceus will receive any kind of large DLC beyond the Daybreak update. It’d be a shame for Pokémon Legends: Arceus to be abandoned so soon after its successful launch. And while many people expected the game to get its fair share of DLC, that seems up in the air now after the reveal for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

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Austin King
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Austin King is a Game Features Editor at Screen Rant. He’s the author of several books and hosts the Dragon Quest FM and JRPGs & Me podcasts. You can find him on Twitter @DragonQuaustin.

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