Nintendo's decision to announce costly DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A and lock three Mega Evolutions behind an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription has prompted fan complaints over the amount of money required to unlock every creature.
Last Friday's Nintendo Direct included the announcement of Mega Dimension, a $30 DLC that includes additional story content and allows fans to encounter two new Mega Evolutions: Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y.
Three other Mega Evolutions were also confirmed, for Kalos Starter Pokémon Delphox, Chesnaught and Greninja, with small print revealing these will only be available post-launch as rewards for competing in online ranked battles — which require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
With Pokémon Legends Z-A already $70 on Switch 2 (or $60 on the original Switch), fans were quick to note that the $30 Mega Dimension DLC — announced weeks before the game's launch, and available to pre-order already — pushes the price of owning every new Mega Evolution to $100.
On top of that, the need to have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription only adds to the costs involved. And with each of the three granted over subsequent in-game seasons, players will need to keep their Switch Online active for multiple months (and win ranked battles) to unlock the lot.
"Why lock something like this behind a paywall and ranked battles, did they not think at all?" wrote one fan, footboy1996. "Because money," replied another fan.
"This paired with the literal day one $30 DLC is like beyond bonkers," wrote AshStash, "lame as hell. Like, if you wanna experience the whole of this game day 1, you gotta cough up (minimum) $20 for online, $70 for base game, and $30 for dlc. Is that not insane."
"Pokemon Heart Gold was $34 when I was 8," wrote SStonerag. "Adjusted for inflation that's $50. Which is like $70 cheaper than all dat. Wtf is this."
"This should not be the damn norm," TreasureHnt9696 concluded. "It's disgusting and money hungry. I'm getting the switch 2 version and not getting the DLC. I'll watch others play."
Other fans pointed to the recent $20 cost of beloved Hollow Knight: Silksong, or $50 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, or $30 Hades 2, to highlight how much the DLC cost.
"For 100 of this currency you can play three Game of the Year contenders or one Pokémon game," Thedeaddiety wrote.
Raichu, Chesnaught, Delphox and Greninja join a growing list of additional Mega Pokémon species getting their debuts in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, following recently announced Mega Evolutions for Dragonite, Malamar and Victreebell. You can read about them in our recap of every new Mega Evolution announced for Pokémon Legends: Z-A so far.
Last week brought a huge amount of Nintendo news on everything from Mario to Zelda, Yoshi and Fire Emblem. We also got a first look at Pokémon Pokopia, an Animal Crossing-esque life simulation spin-off. For everything else, check out everything announced at the Nintendo Direct September 2025.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
