How to play Elden Ring Nightreign early (New Zealand Trick)

Elden Ring Nightreign is almost out, and if you want to play it early, the New Zealand trick is your best option. Since the game doesn’t launch globally at the same time , players in New Zealand get it first, and that’s where this trick comes in.

By changing your system's region to New Zealand, you can unlock Nightreign as soon as it releases there. That’s 12:00 AM NZST on May 30, 2025 which means 5:00 AM PT / 8:00 AM ET on May 29, 2025 in the U.S. Here’s how New Zealand Trick works depending on your platform.

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Ways to play Elden Ring Nightreign early (New Zealand Trick)

Xbox – easiest way to use the trick

If you’re on Xbox, this takes less than a minute. Just go to Settings > System > Language & Location, change your region to New Zealand, restart your console, and that’s it. Your game will unlock as soon as it’s live in New Zealand. No extra accounts, no VPN, no other steps — just a simple region swap.

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For PlayStation

On PS5 or PS4, it only works if you buy the game on a New Zealand account. You can’t transfer your preorder from another region at the time of writing.

You’ll need to:

1. Create a new PSN account with New Zealand as the region.
2. Buy Nightreign on that account.
3. Turn on console sharing and offline play in the settings.
4. Switch back to your main account — the game will still launch.

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For PC

The New Zealand trick doesn’t work on PC. Steam doesn’t let you fake your region to unlock games early. However, players on Steam get a slightly earlier release. On Steam, Nightreign goes live at 3:00 PM PT / 6:00 PM ET on May 29, which is already a few hours ahead of console users in the U.S.

You won’t need the trick unless you're trying to play even earlier, and there’s no working method to do that.

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