How to play Black Ops 6 early

It’s never too soon to play the next Call of Duty because the grind is relentless.

Does Black Ops 6 have early access?

Black Ops 6 player holding a missile launcher runs under airborne Scorestreaks — Fly across the world instantly. Image via Activision

The straight answer here is no, there is no early access for Black Ops 6’s campaign, multiplayer, or Zombies modes. In previous years, CoD had campaign early access (for MW3 and MW2), but Activision has decided to forego that option in 2024. But there is a way to play BO6 early.

You can play Black Ops 6 early using the “New Zealand trick” to begin playing the game when it launches at midnight New Zealand time. Since New Zealand’s time zone is farther ahead than the rest of the world, that region unlocks the game first. But you can join the party by being a little sneaky.

What is the ‘New Zealand trick’?

Multiplayer operator jumping over a barrier in Black Ops 6 map Scud — Here’s what you have to do. Image via Activision

You can trick your console into thinking that it’s in the New Zealand time zone to begin playing the game on Oct. 24, no matter where you are in the world. Midnight NZ time is 11am GMT, 6am CT, or 4am PT.

This countdown below counts to the exact minute the game becomes available for New Zealanders or those who do the New Zealand trick.

Black Ops 6 New Zealand time launch countdown

Check out our guide for more info on the release date and preorder times.

How to do the ‘New Zealand trick’ for BO6

Black Ops 6 multiplayer screenshot featuring Weaver as someone dies in a pool behind him. — Kiwis love CoD. Image via Activision

The method of using the New Zealand trick depends on the platform on which you play CoD: Xbox, PlayStation, or PC. Read on below for the info on how to do the New Zealand trick on all of them.

Xbox New Zealand trick for Black Ops 6

You will have to change the region on your Xbox and Activision accounts to play CoD as soon as it becomes available. Here’s what you need to do on Xbox:

Open the Settings menu.
Select “System.”
Select “Language & Location.”
Set your location to New Zealand.
Restart your console.

Now, navigate to your Activision account on a PC or phone browser and follow these steps:

Log into your Activision account.
Select “Profile” at the top of the screen.
Select “Basic Info.”
Select “Edit” next to the address field.
Change the location to New Zealand.

Once you’ve done this, your Xbox will think that you’re in New Zealand, allowing you to play the game at midnight New Zealand time, when the countdown above ends. Don’t forget to call out sick for work!

It’s currently unknown if the New Zealand trick will work with those who play the game on Game Pass. Once the method is confirmed, this article will be updated with more information.

PlayStation New Zealand trick for Black Ops 6

The PS5 method is hit or miss for the New Zealand trick, but you can try tweaking your Activision account to see if it works. Changing regions on PS5 is not as simple or easy (or cheap) as changing regions on Xbox because it often requires you to create a new account for that region and subscribe to PlayStation Plus for it, too.

Here’s what you can try on PS5 to see if you can log in early for BO6:

Log into your Activision account.
Select “Profile” at the top of the screen
Select “Basic Info.”
Select “Edit” next to the address field.
Change the location to New Zealand.

How to play Black Ops 6 early on PC

Woods from Black Ops 6. — Bad news. Image via Activision

Unfortunately, for players on PC, the New Zealand trick does not work for PC versions of the game on Steam or Battle.net. For CoD players on Battle.net and Steam, BO6 will become available at midnight in your time zone, and there’s no real way to work around it.

It may work if you have Game Pass on PC or the Microsoft Store PC version of the game. Here’s how to change your Microsoft account region:

Click the Start button.
Click Settings, then Time & Language, then Language & Region.
Under “Country or region,” select New Zealand.

How to get a New Zealand address for COD

It’s easy to find a randomly generated New Zealand address to fill in the details of your Activision account, but you don’t actually need to. Instead, you can just use whatever address you have listed on your account and simply change the location to New Zealand.

Activision doesn’t appear to check the address is correct, and it hasn’t shown any issues for me. But if you’d rather not risk it, you can use this website to select a randomly generated New Zealand address—which comes in handy if you need one for anything else, like an iPhone account.

This article will be updated with more information as it becomes available.