Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is nearly here, and while you can get three days of early access to the game if you purchase the $100 Deluxe Edition, there’s a trick to get in early without paying extra. It also works for Deluxe Edition owners, too.
The New Zealand trick is a classic exploit that lets players unlock games a full day ahead of release. It works because most games have regional rollouts, launching at midnight in every time zone. New Zealand is the first country where it hits midnight on a new day, so it’s the earliest region where a new video game releases. By changing your console’s region to New Zealand, you can trick the game into being playable before the clock strikes midnight in your region.
If you do the New Zealand trick for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, you can start playing nearly 24 hours early. For Deluxe Edition owners, you can start playing at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET on Monday, January 29, 2024, with the New Zealand Trick. Everyone else can start playing on Thursday, February 1, 2024, with the New Zealand Trick.
How to Play Suicide Squad Early on Xbox
The New Zealand trick is easiest on Xbox since there aren’t many restrictions for changing regions. All you have to do is pre-order Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League digitally on the Xbox store and then change your console’s region to New Zealand by following these steps.
- Go to your system settings.
- Choose System.
- Select Language & Location.
- Set your location to New Zealand.
- Restart your console.
When your console restarts, it’ll think you’re in New Zealand. You can check if it worked by looking at the Xbox store and seeing if the currency changed to New Zealand Dollars. If you see NZ$, then you did the New Zealand trick successfully! You can now launch Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and start playing ahead of launch.
How to Play Suicide Squad Early on PlayStation
On PlayStation, the New Zealand trick is more difficult. Simply changing your console’s region to New Zealand won’t work. Instead, you need to purchase the game on the New Zealand PlayStation Store. If you’ve already pre-ordered Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, then you’re out of luck unless you’re willing to buy a second copy.
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If you’re willing to buy it on the New Zealand store, however, just make a new PlayStation Network account with its location set to New Zealand. Then, buy the game on that account. The New Zealand store doesn’t work well with some US credit/debit cards, so you may need to buy New Zealand PSN gift cards from an online retailer to add funds to your account.
Once you’ve purchased the game on your New Zealand account, you can play it on your main PSN account as long as you have game sharing enabled on the NZ profile. To do so, log into the New Zealand PSN account on your PS5 and then go to the system settings. Then, choose Users and Accounts. From there, select Other and then enable Console Sharing and Offline Play. This will let you play Suicide Squad using any profile on your console.
Can You Play Suicide Squad Early on PC?
Sadly, the New Zealand trick doesn’t work on PC. Since Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is on Steam, you’re forced to use Steam’s release time for the game. The Steam store doesn’t update at midnight either, so that means you won’t be able to access Suicide Squad until 10 AM PT on launch day. Even using a VPN or changing your PC’s region won’t work, so you’re out of luck.
Even if you manage to unlock Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League early on your chosen platform, that doesn’t mean the experience will go smoothly. The game’s early access period is now live and the servers have been taken offline because of a critical bug, so things aren’t great for the people currently playing. There’s no offline mode yet either, so no servers means no gameplay.
