With Pokémon Legends: Arceus being Game Freak's most ambitious project to date, many fans have been left wondering if the RPG would get DLC. In the Gen 4 story, players are tasked with exploring the open-world maps of the Hisui region, to create what will eventually become the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Pokédex. While Legends: Arceus DLC release dates were never announced, many players believed that there was a good chance that Pokémon Legends: Arceus would get extra story content following the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC in 2021.
In February, Pokémon Legends: Arceus received the "Daybreak Update" for free, which introduced the new Massive Mass Outbreak and the Eternal Battle Reverie features to the game. While the patch added a good chunk of new content, it wasn't the story DLC that fans had hoped for. Although the Sinnoh prequel was generally well-received among critics, fans critical of Pokémon Legends: Arceus story had hoped that a DLC patch would add more plot and Pokémon to the RPG to flesh out its main campaign.
With the Daybreak Update's release landing in February, many Pokémon fans held out hope that Pokémon Legends: Arceus DLC could still get announced and released halfway into the year. After all, Pokemon Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor DLC had a June 2021 release date. The chances of a Pokémon Legends: Arceus DLC update became more complicated, however, when Game Freak revealed that Gen 9 would launch at the end of 2022 with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus DLC Might Not Happen
Now that May is here, it could be time for Pokémon fans to give up on Pokémon Legends: Arceus DLC ever becoming a reality. While an expansion could technically release from June to August, it's now become too far into the year without an announcement for this to be likely. Compared to previous DLC and Events that have been added to past Pokémon Generation titles, this would be the longest the Nintendo developer has been silent before a possible release window.
With Pokémon Scarlet and Violet confirmed to be a fully "open-world" title with "seamless borders," it seems even less likely that Game Freak would have a team dedicated to working on content that is that substantial for Pokémon Legends: Arceus at this point. While some fans of the Diamond and Pearl origin story will be let down by the lack of Pokémon Legends: Arceus DLC, it's looking more and more likely that the Pokémon franchise is ready to move on to Scarlet and Violet this Fall.