EA FC 24 New Zealand trick explained – how to play the game early

28 September 2023 , 12:20

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EA FC 24 New Zealand trick explained – how to play the game a day early (Image: EA SPORTS)

EA FC 24 is released worldwide tomorrow, but there's a way you can play the full game a day earlier than expected through a proven method.

After months of anticipation, EA FC 24 is finally getting its worldwide release tomorrow, allowing everyone to play the first instalment of the EA Sports FC game series. Players who had early access have been able to access EA FC 24 since last Friday, though using a popular glitch, some players were able to access the game early.

The trick is dubbed the New Zealand glitch, and it's been used frequently across past FIFA titles, including FIFA 23. The trick allows players to access the full game a day early just by changing their console settings.

Here's how to do the New Zealand glitch and get early access to EA FC 24.

EA FC 24 New Zealand trick explained

This method only works on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles, as players using an Xbox console can change their location in their console settings, so players on PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC are out of luck.

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If you follow the steps below, you should be able to play EA FC 24 a day earlier than the official release date! But, make sure to change your console's location back to your actual location before 11.30pm BST / 6.30pm EDT / 3.30am PDT on Thursday, otherwise your matchmaking may become region-locked. Here are the full instructions to access EA FC 24 a day early using the New Zealand trick on Xbox.

To get even earlier early access to EA FC 24, players simply need to change the location of their Xbox console to New Zealand. In the UK, if you change your console location to New Zealand, you should be able to start playing EA FC 24 right now as New Zealand Standard Time (NZST) is 11 hours ahead of BST UK time, and the EA FC 24 release time is set for 12am local time.

Here's how to change your Xbox console's location:

• Go to the Settings menu on your Xbox console
• Go to the System tab
• Select the Language & Location option
• Change location to New Zealand
• Restart your Xbox console
• Launch whatever edition of EA FC 24 you have from your game library and enjoy!

You cannot change your location whilst in the middle of a game in EA FC 24, so make sure you're not in the middle of an online match during this time. Quit the game, go back into the menu using the instructions listed above and change your location back to your actual location. Once you're in the game, you'll be able to enjoy new FC 24 Ultimate Team content, including TOTW 2, and begin building your starter team.

Lewis Barton