The $35 Expansion to Pokemon Pokopia kicks off on August 5, giving players access to a whole new area called Bubbly Basin, filled with new Pokemon to befriend.
Alongside the paid expansion, there’s a free update coming as well that lets players learn the Dive move from Manaphy, allowing the opportunity to start building on the seafloor. Thought you were done organizing and decorating your Pokopia island? Well, think again!
If you’re prepared to jump into the Pokopia expansion and explore Bubbly Basin, knowing the exact release time will surely come in handy.
What Time Does the Bubbly Basin DLC Release?
- Americas: 9:00 PM PT (Aug 4) / 12:00 AM ET (Aug 5)
- Rest of World: Midnight local time on August 5
Now, Nintendo doesn’t typically share release time details for new launches on its social media, but if we use the release timing for the original launch of Pokopia (and other Nintendo titles), we expect the Bubbly Basin DLC (and the free update) to go live at around midnight local time in your timezone on Wednesday, August 5.
The only exception to this is in the US, where the expansion will release at midnight Eastern Time. So if you’re in the Pacific Time Zone, like California, Bubbly Basin should come out around 9 PM PT on Tuesday, August 4.
To summarize, the new content will launch at the following times:
|
Location/ Time Zone |
Release Time |
|
Los Angeles (PT) |
9:00 PM (August 4) |
|
Denver (MT) |
10:00 PM (August 4) |
|
Mexico City (CT) |
11:00 PM (August 4) |
|
New York (ET) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
São Paulo (BRT) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
London (GMT) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
Stockholm (CET) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
Cairo (EET) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
Baku (AZT) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
New Delhi (IST) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
Hanoi (ICT) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
Tokyo (JST) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
Sydney (AEDT) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
|
Auckland (NZDT) |
12:00 AM (August 5) |
Does the New Zealand/Australia Trick Work for Pokopia?
Yes! Since the Expansion comes out at midnight local time in places like New Zealand, you can theoretically play much earlier than people in the States, but you’ll need to have an eShop account dedicated to said region and then purchase digital eShop cards from the same region. It’s not a long process, but it will usually end up costing you more money at the end of the day.
Make sure that if you buy the Expansion Pass in a different region, it matches the region of the original purchase of Pokopia. You could end up region-locking yourself!
How to Access Bubbly Basin in Pokopia
To prepare for the new content drop, you want to make sure that you’ve completed the ‘Raise the Environment Level’ Request in the Bleak Beach area. You also need to be able to jump and know the move Surf.
- Released
-
March 5, 2026
- ESRB
-
Everyone / Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
