Resident Evil Requiem will be released worldwide on February 27, 2026, but the consoles will unlock at midnight in each region. Since New Zealand gets to this date first, Xbox and PlayStation users can usually get into the game hours before the release in their region.
In this article, we will explain how you can play Resident Evil Requiem at the earliest possible time using the New Zealand trick.
What is The New Zealand Trick
The majority of console releases for Requiem are based on the local calendar date of the console store and not on the global clock. By changing the region of your console to New Zealand, you are essentially telling the store that you are in the earliest time zone, allowing the game to unlock first.
The PC version of Capcom’s game on Steam has a unified server unlock time, and thus, you cannot get early access by changing the region of your PC or the time on your system. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the trick will work on all platforms and all launches, and thus, you must do everything at your own risk because the publishers may change their policies anytime. Apart from that, the New Zealand trick doesn’t work on Nintendo Switch 2.
How To Play Resident Evil Requiem Early Using the New Zealand Trick
Follow the steps mentioned below to successfully play the game as early as possible:
- Preload or purchase Resident Evil Requiem on your usual Xbox account as normal.
- On your Xbox, open Settings → System → Language & Location.
- Change Location to New Zealand, then restart the console to apply the change.
- Once New Zealand has reached release day, launch the game.
- It should boot without the “too early” message.
On PlayStation, simply changing the time on the console will not work, as the store is interested in your account’s region, not the time of day. To replicate the NZ trick, you will usually need a New Zealand PSN account and, if a linked publisher account is used (such as Activision with Call of Duty), to enter that account’s address as being in New Zealand as well. Therefore, Xbox is the only platform where you can use the trick to play the game early.
Changing regions can cause issues with payment options, region pricing, and DLC support, and you may find that you need to change back to your original region for playing other games. While there have been no reports of a ban solely for using the NZ trick, it is still an unofficial method of getting around the region restrictions, and you should only use it if you are happy with the potential consequences.