New Neighbears: the four DLC bears explained

New Neighbears is the only paid content expansion for the original Cozy Grove. It was released on April 26, 2022, and it is available separately for the base game on PC and consoles, including the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. On Steam, the review-day price was $6.99 USD; platform sales and regional pricing will vary.

It is not a new island, a season pass or a separate game. It is a set of four new ghost-bear stories that slot into four existing camps once their original residents are ready to move on.

What you get

The official feature list is compact but substantial:

• Four new bears with longer personal stories and less waiting between story beats.
• A new critter type — butterflies — to catch and collect.
• Exclusive clothing delivered automatically after purchase.
• A new song added to the background music rotation.
• Free expansions to the clothing closet.
• A free, special Rainbow Cat.
• New badges and platform achievements/trophies tied to DLC progress.
• A later group gathering that brings the island’s bears together.

The four new residents do not open conventional shops. Their reward is story, dialogue and the DLC-specific collection content. If you are looking for another daily merchant, this is not that expansion.

When can you start it?

You need three things:

1. The base game and the DLC installed.
2. An unlocked mailbox through Patrice’s early story, because the bonus clothing and Rainbow Cat arrive by in-game mail.
3. A base-game resident whose story has been completed so that their camp can change hands.

The DLC is not designed as a shortcut for a brand-new save. Spry Fox states that the first replacement cannot happen until at least 70 calendar days have passed because of the length of the original bears’ stories. The pacing is intentional; the new bears are a continuation, not an alternate start.

How the four bears arrive

The DLC bears replace four base-game residents after those residents’ arcs conclude. The community-documented pairings are:

Triggering a departure

After a base bear’s story is complete, continue talking to them over the following days and explore all dialogue options. Spry Fox specifically points to a line along the lines of “You look so peaceful” as the conversation that starts the departure and makes room for the new resident.

You do not need to finish all four base arcs before moving the first one along. Each handoff is independent, so you can meet the DLC cast one at a time as your save naturally reaches those conclusions.

Butterflies: the DLC critter

Butterflies are the new critter type, and they behave differently from the base-game bugs in two important ways.

When they appear

Spry Fox’s support article gives the usable range: March through September, with lower appearance rates in March and September than in the summer months. There are no butterflies from October through February.

Do not assume the bug is broken if a butterfly does not appear on a spring day. The game first decides whether a critter will spawn, then randomly chooses its type. Even at peak season, Spry Fox says the chance of that choice being a butterfly is less than 20%.

Where to look

Butterflies favor clusters of potted flowers. If you are hunting them, group your potted plants together and check that area after a day change. Catching ordinary critters helps too: there is a cap on simultaneous critters, so clearing non-butterflies makes room for new spawns.

The rainbow cat and clothing arrive by mail, not from the butterfly system. Do not conflate the two.

What does not change

• No new island or map. The island remains the base-game Cozy Grove, with the same camp expansions.
• No extra Spirit Log rank. The DLC bears are not added to Flamey’s rank ladder.
• No conventional DLC shop. The value is in story, critters and collection.
• No separate save. The DLC is part of the same island and uses the same daily calendar.

That last point matters for planning. If you are already deep into the base game, installing the DLC does not force a reset or a new campaign. The new bears wait for their camps to become available.

Is it worth buying?

This is an editorial judgment, not a review score:

• Buy it if you have finished at least one base bear’s story, enjoy the character writing, and want four more stories with a faster conversational rhythm. The butterfly collection and extra clothing are meaningful for completionists.
• Wait if you are still in the first ten to twenty days of the base game. You cannot use most of the DLC yet, and the base campaign already has plenty to do.
• Skip it if you only want new systems or a new map. This is a story-and-critter expansion, not a sequel.

Switch 2 and current platforms

The DLC is listed for the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, released alongside the platform edition on March 12, 2026. It is not included automatically with the base game; check the eShop listing for your region. On PC, the Steam listing requires the base game and has the same four-bear content.

If you are moving from Switch to Switch 2, make sure you are using the correct regional account and the Upgrade Pack/edition that matches your ownership. The DLC and base game need to be compatible before you continue a save. Nintendo’s store pages are the right place to verify your exact entitlements.

The short version

New Neighbears is a warm epilogue for players who have spent enough time with Cozy Grove to know the original bears. It adds four new voices, a gentler story cadence, butterflies, and a small pile of extras. It does not add a new map — but if you loved the island, that is probably the point.