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Here’s when you can play the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet the Teal Mask concept art

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be receiving a large DLC expansion in the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.

The Pokemon Company took its games in a new direction with Pokemon Sword and Shield. Instead of releasing a third game in the generation like Pokemon Yellow or Pokemon Platinum, Sword and Shield received the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra DLCs that added new areas and brought back a number of Pokemon that weren’t included in the base version of the game

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be getting similar treatment. Rather than a third game, the gen-nine duo will receive a pair of DLC. Here’s everything there is to know about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.

What’s in the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC?

The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC will add new story content, new areas, and new Pokemon. It will also bring back hundreds of old Pokemon from previous generations that weren’t included in the base version of the game, with the full list of returning Pokemon leaking months in advance.

The first portion of the DLC is The Teal Mask which will take place in “the land of Kitakimi.” It’s unclear whether this will be a completely new region or just a new part of Paldea, but artwork shows a radically different aesthetic from what’s seen in the rest of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

The second half of the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC is The Indigo Disk. The player is transferred to Blueberry Academy, an underwater school similar to Uva and Naranja Academy that specializes in battling.

When does Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask come out?

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask DLC will come out in Fall 2023. An exact release date has not yet been confirmed, but fans can likely expect it in September or October. The first portion of the DLC is confirmed to be adding several new Pokemon including the trio of Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti.

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When does Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk come out?

The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is slated to come out in winter 2023, meaning it will likely land in December. Fans have wondered if The Indigo Disk will bring a dedicated battle area similar to the Battle Frontier or Battle Tree seen in previous Pokemon games

The DLC will also likely center around a new turtle Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Horizons. The Pokemon looks like a smaller version of The Indigo Disk’s featured legendary Terapagos, with the two potentially taking on a similar role to the one played by Kubfu and Urshifu in Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC.

How many DLCs will Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have?

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will have two DLC expansions that are sold as a bundle. They will launch at separate times, with the first part scheduled for autumn 2023 and the second part coming in the winter. This is similar to how Pokemon Sword and Shield handled its DLC releases.

While it’s possible that another batch of DLC could come out, it’s much more likely that Game Freak would look to release a new Pokemon title in 2024. Fans are clamoring for remakes of Pokemon Black and White or a sequel to Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and both of those are more likely than a second batch of DLC.

How much does the gen-nine Pokemon DLC cost?

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC costs $35. This includes both the Indigo Disk and Teal Mask expansions, and they are not currently being sold separately. Pokemon Sword and Shield’s DLCs were never sold separately, and were instead bundled as an “Expansion Pass.” That’s likely to remain the case in Scarlet and Violet.

Pokemon Sword Shield Expansion Pass

The $35 asking price is slightly higher than the cost of Sword and Shield’s DLC bundle. The Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra Expansion Pass cost $30. Fans are hoping that the higher price tag will translate to a greater amount of content, but that remains to be seen.

Will the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC be free?

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will likely receive a free update following the release of its DLC expansions. However, the DLC itself will cost $35.

When Pokemon Sword and Shield’s DLC launched, there was a large update that was available to all players that added all the new and returning Pokemon into the game. This allowed players to trade for the Pokemon added in the DLC and battle against them, but did not allow players to access the new areas or catch the Pokemon on their own. Odds are that Game Freak will take this same approach to the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero.

Do you have to buy the DLC twice for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?

Players who own both Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet will have to buy the DLC twice in order to enjoy the new content in both games.

While Pokemon games released alongside one another are usually identical with a simple flag in the code that changes the main menu and Pokemon that are available, no price break is being given when it comes to the DLC. Those who purchase both games will need to spend a total of $70 in order to access the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero in both Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

How do you access the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC?

Currently, there is no way to access Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s DLC areas. The precedent suggests that getting started will be relatively straightforward.

In Pokemon Sword and Shield, players started both the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra DLCs by revisiting certain train stations. After purchasing the DLC, players spoke with NPCs from the base game that had new interactions. From there, the player was whisked away to new territory.

While Pokemon Sword and Shield teased players ahead of the DLC’s launch by giving them a Galarian Slowpoke, no such addition has been made in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Ultimately, reaching the new areas will likely just be a matter of talking with an NPC.

Written by Steven Rondina X Twitter Logo

Steven Rondina has been playing video games since he was a toddler and appreciates every genre out there. He has earned the platinum trophy in every Soulsborne game, is regularly Master Ball-ranked on the competitive Pokemon ladder, and has spent thousands of hours missing shots on Dust 2. His work has previously been featured by Bleacher Report and The Washington Post, and he was an Assistant Editor at WIN.gg. You can follow him on Twitter / X at @srondina.

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