These days, Xbox launch days are marked by a silent ritual that has nothing to do with waiting in line at a store. A minor migration of thousands of consoles starts somewhere around noon in the United States. After navigating through the Wi-Fi and storage menus in the Settings app, owners inform their machine that it now resides in New Zealand. The game they’ve been waiting for is now playable after a restart. It’s a peculiar little trick that has been used for years, and Forza Horizon 6 has brought it back into the spotlight in a way that seems more significant than usual.
Its reasoning is almost embarrassingly straightforward. Digital releases linked to local midnight unlock in New Zealand first because the country is ahead of the rest of the world in terms of time. Like Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft bases game availability on the regional setting of the console rather than the player’s actual location. Therefore, your Xbox will act as though it is sitting on a couch in Wellington. Longtime Xbox users believe that this was merely a side effect that no one bothered to fix, rather than a true oversight.
You go to Settings, then System, then Language & Location to accomplish this. Accept the prompt, change the country to New Zealand, and then allow the console to restart. The Microsoft Store reflects its new location when it boots back up, and any pre-ordered games that are scheduled to launch in New Zealand become available as soon as local midnight arrives. This means that Forza Horizon 6 will begin at 5 a.m. Pacific time rather than waiting until the evening, which is the kind of gap that transforms a Monday afternoon into a full play session.
It’s worthwhile to consider Microsoft’s actual position on all of this. Change your region only if you have actually moved, according to the official support documentation. Your Microsoft account’s funds might not travel with you, and the company has the right to take action against anyone who abuses the system. The final sentence is the one that ought to make people stop. Bans are theoretically possible. In reality, they hardly ever occur. The fact that Xbox ANZ made a public joke about the trick during the release of Forza Horizon 5 probably speaks volumes about how seriously Redmond takes it.
It’s difficult to ignore the tension in this arrangement, though. The rules are set by Microsoft, players alter them, and both parties act as though they are blind to one another. This week’s Google Trends data revealed that search interest in “New Zealand trick Xbox” spiked once more, following the same pattern each time a significant exclusive lands. There’s a sense that the business could shut this down at any time. It simply doesn’t seem to want to.
It doesn’t matter if you do it or not. Waiting a few more hours and playing when your region is officially unlocked is the best course of action. In all honesty, thousands of people are currently racing across digital Australasia, and the majority of them will be alright. The only true expense is the minor inconvenience of changing the region back once you’re finished; otherwise, it’s your console and your decision.
