Can You Play Assassin’s Creed Shadows Early Using New Zealand Trick?

Xbox players can use the New Zealand trick for early access to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Here’s a guide to help you with it.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the latest title in the AC series and is set to launch globally on March 20, 2025. Moreover, players cannot wait to jump into feudal Japan and play as Yasuke and Naoe. Assassin’s Creed Shadows developers scrapped the idea of providing early access to players who even bought special editions. 

However, there is one trick that Xbox players can use to start playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows earlier than others – The New Zealand Trick. Here’s a simple guide to help you understand this trick in detail.

Also Read: Assassin’s Creed Shadows Twitch Drop Rewards and How To Get Them?

What Is the New Zealand Trick for Assassin’s Creed Shadows?

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is launching globally for everyone on March 20, 2025, but Xbox players can use different time zones to get a head start on playing the game. New Zealand is one of the first countries to start a new day at midnight, which is nearly 12 hours ahead of GMT. With this in mind, we can use this information to trick the game into providing pseudo-early access.

How To Use the New Zealand Trick To Play Assassin’s Creed Shadows Early?

The New Zealand trick can only be used on Xbox Series X/S to play the game early. Here are the steps that you have to follow for this trick to succeed:

• Open Settings on your Xbox console.
• Go to your System and open the Language and Location menu.
• Scroll down through all the countries and select New Zealand as your current region.
• Restart the console.

This registers your current region as New Zealand, which means Assassin’s Creed Shadows now unlocks much earlier for you compared to all other regions around the world.

Also Read: Assassin’s Creed Shadows Preload Date and Time Explored

Can PC and PlayStation Players Use the New Zealand Trick?

Unfortunately, PC players have no way to use the New Zealand trick as Ubisoft follows a worldwide launch agenda. Additionally, PS5 players have their PSN accounts region-locked on creation. However, there is a method that can help PS5 players to use the New Zealand trick, but there is no 100% guarantee of success. Here are the steps PS5 players need to follow:

• Create a new account and select New Zealand while selecting your region.
• Enable Console Sharing and Offline Play on the account in which you own Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
• Pre-load the game from your main account.
• On the release day of AC Shadows, switch to the new account and put your PS5 in offline mode.
• Try launching the game to see if it starts.

There is always a chance of Sony enforcing online activation on launch; therefore, it is best for PC and PS5 players to keep their hopes down to obtain early access for Assassin’s Creed Shadows using the New Zealand trick.

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We provide the latest news and create guides for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Meanwhile, you can check out the following AC Shadows articles or catch us playing games on Twitch and YouTube:

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• Can You Do One-Shot Assassinations in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
• How To Get Assassin’s Creed Shadows Slash of Sprecher for Free
• Who Are the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Protagonists? Everything We Know About Yasuke and Naoe
• Can You Play Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Steam Deck
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows Release Time Countdown for All Regions