How to play Assassin's Creed Shadows early

With Assassin's Creed Shadows merely days from its official launch on March 20, 2025, many players are eager to try out the title as early as possible. With the amount of hype the game is receiving, it is only natural to wonder if Ubisoft is providing early access or if there is a hack to play the game earlier than its intended release.

Unfortunately, there is no official early access period for Assassin's Creed Shadows. Unlike some recent AAA titles that offer early playtime through special editions, Ubisoft has scrapped that option after the game’s delay. That said, there is still one trick that console players — specifically those on Xbox — can use to start playing a little earlier: the New Zealand trick.

So, what exactly is the New Zealand trick, and how can you use it to get a head start? This article breaks it down.

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How to play Assassin's Creed Shadows early using the New Zealand trick

The global release timings for Assassin's Creed Shadows (Image via Ubisoft)

The New Zealand trick is a simple method that takes advantage of time zones. Since the country hits midnight before most other regions, players can change their console region to New Zealand and gain access to the game several hours before their local launch time.

However, this trick only works on the Xbox, as PlayStation locks your PSN account region, while PC has a unified global release schedule that doesn’t allow for early access.

How to change your region to New Zealand on Xbox

If you're on Xbox Series X|S, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings on your console.
2. Select System > Language & Location.
3. Scroll through the list and select New Zealand as your region.
4. Restart your console.

Thereafter, it will register your location as New Zealand, allowing you to start playing Assassin's Creed Shadows as soon as the game unlocks there — which could be several hours earlier than in your region.

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Can you do this on PlayStation?

For PS5 players, the situation is trickier, as PlayStation does not allow region changes on existing accounts. However, there is a potential workaround:

• You can create a new PSN account and set the region to New Zealand during account creation.
• Log into this account on your PS5, enable Console Sharing and Offline Play on your main PSN account, and pre-load the game.
• On release day, switch to the New Zealand account, put your PS5 in offline mode, and try launching the game.

This method is a workaround and does not guarantee access, especially if Ubisoft enforces online verification at launch.

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Check out: Can you play Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a newcomer to the series?