The Crown Tundra Expansion for Pokemon Sword and Shield Is Coming Next Month

In just under a month's time, expect a lot of Pokemon Sword and Shield players to start rolling with legendary monsters in their rosters. Today, during a short Pokemon Company video stream, the release date for the Crown Tundra expansion to Pokemon Sword and Shield was revealed: the update will arrive for both games on October 22.

As was teased back with the unveiling of the Sword and Shield Expansion Passes earlier this year, the icy expanses of Galar's Crown Tundra are home to lots of legendary Pokemon—close to all of them, really. While a disclaimer in the new video notes that some legendary Pokemon are exclusive to either Sword or Shield, between the two games it will be possible to collect "every legendary Pokemon that's appeared in the main series of Pokemon games so far."

Of course, from Galarian variants on Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres to new characters and activities, the Crown Tundra expansion will add more than just a handful of Pokemon. One of the expansion's other big draws is the Galarian Star Tournament, a competition that will let players take on two-versus-two Pokemon battles against a duo of Sword and Shield characters, fighting with the help of another character of their choosing by their side. Want to team up with Galar's (former) Pokemon champion? You can.

If you've already bought the Expansion Pass for either Sword or Shield, then you're set for when the Crown Tundra launches next month. The passes are a two-part deal, meaning anyone who buys them gets both the Isle of Armor DLC from earlier this year and the Crown Tundra.

If you haven't picked up Sword and Shield but are interested in hopping in now that we've seen what the Expansion Pass has to offer, you may want to wait a bit. On November 6, Nintendo will release new versions of Sword and Shield that include the Expansion Pass content. The Nintendo store pages aren't live for the bundles just yet, so it remains to be seen whether they'll save folks money over buying Sword or Shield plus an Expansion Pass separately.