Want to play Pokémon Pokopia early? You'll get an opportunity to check out a demo if you're in London this weekend

Pokémon Pokopia, the "cozy life sim" spinoff releasing on Nintendo Switch 2 on 5th March, has quickly become one of the most anticipated launches of early 2026. Marketing on it has been a bit timid considering the huge IP it's riding though, so there are still some doubts less than a month before launch. However, if you're in London, you might be able to get a proper taste of what it offers as soon as this weekend.

Via VGC, we've learned a Pokémon Pokopia demo will be available to play at this weekend's Pokémon European International Championships, which are taking place in London's Excel exhibition centre. While the event's focus will be on its high-stakes Pokémon tournament, it will also house a number of more casual activities for all sorts of Pokémon fans. From TCG activities to panels and meet-and-greets, it's a great place to hang around if you're a huge Pokémon fan.

Nintendo has seen the timing of this year's EUIC (13th February to 15th February) as the perfect opportunity to show off Pokopia and allow people to go hands-on with it, and it's hard to argue against the decision. If they want to get people (hopefully) buzzing online about the fantastic pitch that is a Pokémon game heavily influenced by Stardew Valley and Minecraft, that's a golden opportunity.

If you haven't been keeping track of what's up with Omega Force's (in collaboration with Game Freak) Pokémon Pokopia, let's just say it stars a Ditto who mimics a human as they collaborate with all sorts of Pokémon to rebuild a ruined village that was left behind by the actual humans. Player creativity and flexible build options appear to be especially important on top of the usual farming mechanics, and with the twist the property should provide, we're quite curious about this one.