How To Play Games Early On Xbox: Get Yourself Extra 24 Hours

If you enjoy Xbox games, whether playing them or watching others play, you likely know that some releases can be accessed early.

You may be wondering how that is possible and if it’s something you could achieve.

Yes, you can!

In this article, I will explain how you can access certain Xbox releases several hours early and provide everything you need to know about playing games early on Xbox. Let’s get right into it.

How to Get Pre-Ordered Games Early on Xbox

The primary action you can take to gain earlier access to your pre-ordered games is to adjust your location settings to the New Zealand time zone.

Since you receive games based on your store region and the local time, if you set your location to the region that, due to time zone differences, receives it first, you will also access the game early on Xbox, as if you were residing there.

Here are the steps to accomplish this:

Go to the Xbox Dashboard and open the Settings menu
From the list of options on the left side, choose and click on u003cstrongu003eSystemu003c/strongu003e
When the System section is opened, you will see several different buttons, and click on u003cstrongu003eLanguage u0026amp; locationu003c/strongu003e
On the left side, you will see three different buttons, and you should click on u003cstrongu003eLocationu003c/strongu003e
Once it gives you the different regions to choose from, click on New Zealand

And that’s all!

Ensure that you complete this a day in advance, rather than on the release day.

Once you set it to New Zealand, you will notice that the release date has changed, indicating that you will gain access to the game earlier than you would have if your settings remained on your actual location.

And don’t worry, this isn’t something you need to keep doing.

Once the day has passed and the game has been released in your region, you can switch it back to your actual region… until the next release that you want to get a head start on!

How Changing Your Location Works

This may sound too good to be true, as it appears to be a significant loophole, and it shouldn’t be this easy, right?

Well, with launches like these, it certainly is. Let’s see what this is all about.

When a company launches anything on the Internet, including video games, it can be either a simultaneous launch or a local time launch.

During a simultaneous launch, the game becomes available to everyone at the same time, regardless of the hour.

For you, it might be launching at noon, while your friend overseas could be experiencing it at 4 am; it doesn’t matter; you’re both participating at the exact same moment.

When launches are organized in this manner, this workaround would clearly not be effective.

With local time launches, the game becomes available at the same local time, meaning both you and your friend overseas will receive it at noon; however, noon arrives for them first, followed by your noon.

This means that New Zealand is the first place to experience launches like this, and if you reside on the West Coast of the US, this occurs well ahead of your time.

When you change your region to New Zealand, you will receive the game at the same time as people there, which is hours before those who are physically closer to you.

Does Changing Your Time Zone Affect Your Game Progress?

One concern that arises each time this loophole is mentioned is whether changing your location will affect your game progress and if you’ll lose it.

Fortunately, you can sit back and relax because your game progress remains unchanged even if you switch your region, allowing you to enjoy pre-ordered games without any concerns.

What Does Xbox Think About the “Change Location” Workaround?

Since you are accessing this information on a public platform rather than from a hidden corner of the Internet, you likely assume that Xbox is aware of this workaround.

And you are correct; they are fully aware that people are doing this. Even though they may not have anticipated it happening, they do not appear to mind, as there has been no action taken to stop it.

Additionally, tweets from the official Xbox Australia and New Zealand account have made light of this practice, welcoming those who “moved” to NZ when the Forza Horizon 5 game was released.

Benefits for Streamers Who Play Xbox Games Early

If you are a streamer, you may already be aware of the numerous benefits you could enjoy with your audience by using this trick and then streaming the game to which you have gained early access.

Streaming exclusively on Twitch is excellent, but if you also stream on YouTube, now is the perfect opportunity to maximize your reach by streaming on both platforms until the game is accessible to everyone.

Using the YouTube homepage and targeted ads will enhance your visibility, and it is inevitable that your engagement and site statistics will increase as a result.

On the other hand, not many people on Twitch will be playing this game at the same time as you, so you can be assured that you will stand out from the crowd.

Maintaining an Engaged Audience After the Release Date

As I mentioned, you will gain significant traction by playing games that are not yet accessible to many of your viewers. However, as you likely know, building a successful streaming career is more about keeping people engaged with your channel than focusing solely on these occasional spikes.

Here’s what you need to do to maximize audience engagement and site popularity while retaining new visitors on the channel:

Don’t be shy and remind people directly to consider following or subscribing if they have enjoyed the stream
Be aware of the chat and try and do things that people want to see
Try to upload some of the early content you’re currently viewing on a VOD channel, which you should make if you don’t have it already
Since you’re playing a new game, you will probably be playing it a lot in the weeks to come, so be sure to talk about your future plans with your audience so they have something to be excited about
As always, be yourself and don’t feel pressured to put on an act just because you have more viewers than usual; being yourself will certainly get you very far

Conclusion

Utilizing this loophole to gain early access to Xbox games is quite simple and should be an obvious choice.

Who wouldn’t want to receive content a day early?

In addition to enjoying it for yourself, streaming early will offer numerous benefits, including attracting new viewers and achieving significant growth in your watch time.

Overall, it’s a wonderful opportunity for both yourself and your community. If Microsoft has no objections to this practice, there’s no reason for you to hesitate in trying it out the next time a game you are anticipating is released.

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