How to Play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Early Using the New Zealand Trick

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is finally almost upon us, but if you’re particularly eager to get going, you don’t have to wait until the clock strikes midnight to get in on the action. It’s par for the course that late October/early November is prime Call of Duty season. Gamers around the world stack up on unhealthy snacks, update their game, and plop themselves in front of their system of choice to grind out the multiplayer, enjoy the campaign, and slay the undead in Zombies. It’s a yearly routine for millions of people around the world and this year, things will likely be even bigger as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is available on Xbox Game Pass on day one. That means tons of new people are going to be booting the game up to give it a shot purely because of its accessibility.

With all of that said, whether you’re a Call of Duty veteran or a newcomer, there is a way to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 almost a full day early in the United States. Players can switch their platform’s region to New Zealand to get in on the action as early as 4AM PT/7AM ET on October 24th, as of right now this is only on Xbox and possibly PC. It’s theorized players may be able to change the region on their Activision account on PS5 as there isn’t a way to change regions on the console itself. To do that, go to Activision’s official website and edit your profile settings. Again, this is just speculation from players online and there’s no guarantee that PS5 players will be able to get in early. However, you can learn how to do this method on Xbox and PC below.

We should note up top that this method is not officially encouraged by Xbox, Activision, or any of the platform holders and you will be doing this at your own risk. We have yet to see any notable punishments issued for doing this with previous game releases, but the disclaimer is worth noting.

Xbox

• Go to Xbox’s Settings
• Scroll down to “System” and click “Language & Location”
• Change location to New Zealand
• Click “Restart Now” on the right hand side of the screen
• Launch the game and attempt to play Black Ops 6
• If you are still unable to get into Black Ops 6, go to Activision’s website
• Click on the blue “Profile” button
• Click on “Basic Info” tab on the left side of the screen
• Edit your address to include a New Zealand address and change your location to New Zealand
• Save settings and re-attempt to play Black Ops 6
• Don’t forget to change your settings back to your actual location once the game officially launches on October 25th otherwise your Xbox store will use New Zealand currency amongst other things

PC (Microsoft Store ONLY, No Steam/Battle.net)

• Open the PC start menu and open your Settings app
• Click “Time & Language”
• Selection “Language & Region”
• Select New Zealand under the Region dropdown menu
• Restart your PC
• Launch the game and attempt to play Black Ops 6
• If you are still unable to get into Black Ops 6, go to Activision’s website
• Click on the blue “Profile” button
• Click on “Basic Info” tab on the left side of the screen
• Edit your address to include a New Zealand address and change your location to New Zealand
• Save settings and re-attempt to play Black Ops 6
• Don’t forget to change your settings back to your actual location to avoid any odd issues with your PC

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available at midnight eastern time on October 25th in the United States if you don’t use this exploit/it doesn’t work for you. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is available to pre-load now as well.