Pokémon Pokopia Bubbly Basin & Update 2.0: What’s Free & What’s Not
Pokémon Pokopia is on the cusp of a new chapter. It will receive a major free update and the first part of its Expansion Pass DLC on the same day, August 5, 2026. The celebrated cozy game will officially reach its 2.0 version simultaneously with the release of Expansion Pass Part 1, Bubbly Basin.
This means free content is coming to Pokopia at the same time as premium, paid DLC. Making the matter more confusing, both bits are focused on the same new gameplay twist, underwater building. As it currently stands, Ditto doesn't survive long underwater, but both the 2.0 update and Bubbly Basin are changing that.
Free Content Coming In Pokopia Update 2.0
When Pokémon Pokopia 2.0 comes out on August 5, every player will be able to learn a new move, Dive, to explore and build underwater habitats and towns. Water-type Mythical Pokémon Manaphy will be added to the game to teach Ditto how to Dive, encasing their head in an air bubble. This is the only free addition announced for Pokopia's free 2.0 update, but could still prove useful in a few towns, namely Bleak Beach, Withered Wasteland, and Palette Town.
Everything Included In Pokopia Expansion Pass Part 1: Bubbly Basin
All the other new content coming to Pokémon Pokopia on August 5 is part of the Expansion Pass, which costs $34.99. The DLC will release in three phases: Bubbly Basin on August 5, untitled Part 2 later this year, and Part 3 sometime in 2027. Despite Dive being a free addition to Pokopia, Bubbly Basin almost entirely revolves around the new move.
The highlight of Bubbly Basin is the new, eponymous town being added. Unlocking a new gate will let Ditto travel to Bubbly Basin, which is almost entirely underwater, and will become the home for new Pokémon added in the DLC's first part. Bubbly Basin is also where Ditto will find an upgrade to Surf, new outfits to wear, special furniture and items to decorate with, watermelons to grow, and the recipes for a new food category, smoothies.
While Bubbly Basin's entire seafloor is open for construction, the Expansion Pass also introduces new floating blocks, which can be placed at any depth underwater to allow buildings to be constructed on top of them. Bubbly Basin brings special, underwater-only buildings to Pokopia to use with the new buoyant blocks as well. Ditto will also get a submarine modeled after Sharpedo, which seems to contain just one room to decorate, but can be moved around in Bubbly Basin.
Expansion Pass Part 1's final major addition is a deep sea area where light doesn't reach. When swimming to this particularly deep part of Bubbly Basin, you'll have to use bioluminescent coral to light the way and explore. Not much has been revealed about what is in the deep sea, so it would seem this is where most of the DLC's surprises are going to be.
Purchasing the Expansion Pass entitles you to Bubbly Basin as well as Parts 2 and 3. As we've grown closer to Bubbly Basin's release on August 5, very little has been revealed about the rest of the DLC. Part 2 will introduce accessories to Pokopia later this year, letting Ditto and other Pokémon wear hats, sunglasses, bow ties, and more. Most details on Part 3 remain mysterious, except for the fact that this final piece of the Expansion Pass is where the next town, after Bubbly Basin, will come from.
August 5 will be the biggest day yet for Pokopia's post-launch support. Bubbly Basin offers a wide range of new things to do in the game, but the free 2.0 update simply adding Dive is likely to unleash a new wave of creativity now that everyone will be able to build underwater. Pokémon Pokopia has been one of the more delightful games of 2026, and its great run will only continue as new free and paid features keep coming.