How to play Black Ops 7 early – ‘New Zealand trick’ explained

If you can’t wait to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 at its official release time on Nov. 14, then just take a trip to New Zealand.

Airfare is pretty hefty as always, but if you’ve got a PC or console, you can tweak some settings to play the game as early as 5am CT on Nov. 13 (or midnight time in New Zealand, when the game first becomes available).

Here’s how to do the famed New Zealand trick to play Black Ops 7 early.

Black Ops 7 New Zealand trick

If you use the New Zealand trick, you can play BO7 as early as when this countdown ends at midnight NZ time on Nov. 14, regardless of where you are in the world:

Things may change, but these methods have worked in previous years. Stay tuned on Nov. 13 to see if these methods still work or if Activision has cracked down on New Zealand travelers.

PC

1. Log into your Activision account on the official Activision website.
2. Click on the the “PROFILE” button top right.
3. Click “BASIC INFO.”
4. Click “EDIT” next to your Address.
5. Add a New Zealand address to your account.
6. Click “SAVE.”
7. On PC, open up your System Settings.
8. Click “Time & Language.”
9. Select “Language & Region.”
10. Click the Region drop-down menu and select New Zealand.
11. Restart your PC to save the changes.
12. Play the game in the Xbox PC app by purchasing it or using an active Game Pass subscription.

This method on PC is only available via the Xbox app on PC.

PS5

The PS5 method is spotty and did not work for BO6, but you can try to change your Activision’s profile’s address to a New Zealand one and also make a New Zealand PSN profile.

1. Log into your Activision account on the official Activision website.
2. Click on the the “PROFILE” button top right.
3. Click “BASIC INFO.”
4. Click “EDIT” next to your Address.
5. Add a New Zealand address to your account.
6. Click “SAVE.”
7. Use a PSN account based in New Zealand to play CoD and hope for the best.
   • If it doesn’t work, you likely have to purchase Black Ops 7 again for the NZ account.

Xbox

1. Log into your Activision account on the official Activision website.
2. Click on the the “PROFILE” button top right.
3. Click “BASIC INFO.”
4. Click “EDIT” next to your Address.
5. Add a New Zealand address to your account.
6. Click “SAVE.”
7. On Xbox, open your Settings.
8. Select “System.”
9. Select “Language & Location.”
10. Select “Location” and then New Zealand.
11. Restart your console to save the changes.

If none of these methods work for you, or you don’t feel like doing them, don’t fret. You’re still just mere hours away from playing BO7 in your region. The game is available worldwide on Nov. 14.