International gamers are pretending to be New Zealanders to hack Xbox rules

We already know that Aotearoa is the place to be for so many reasons. But the gaming community has caught on, due to a time-tripping gaming loophole.

Dubbed the ‘New Zealand Trick’, Xbox gamers have discovered that by setting their gaming console location to NZ, they get first access to games before others in the world.

The trick has gone viral recently thanks to the launch of Forza Horizon 6, a highly-anticipated open-world racing franchise that was released this week.

When Xbox decided to launch the game at midnight for each country, the rolling timezone releases meant Kiwis were first in the world, and those in the UK and USA were in for an agonising wait.

However, gamers can bypass it by changing their Xbox system settings, switching their location to New Zealand, and restarting their consoles (with no VPN required).

The system registers them as being down under, instantly unlocking access to Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate well ahead of their actual local midnight launch.

Microsoft's official guidelines technically frown upon the move, but amusingly, the trick has become an open secret.

In fact, Xbox’s official ANZ team joked about the sudden spike in New Zealand’s virtual population when Forza Horizon 5 launched back in 2021.

On Reddit, players are jokingly sharing how to pull off the quick switch, and Kiwis are welcoming those on ‘temporary visas’ to Aotearoa, sharing, “I am from New Zealand and can confirm time travelling works!”

Just the perks of being a Kiwi.