It’s that time of year again, the latest roster change to NBA 2K is nearly here. And like most competitive NBA 2K24 players, we want to get an early edge on the rest of the competition albeit a day’s head start. But an early start nonetheless.
In this guide, I’ll tell you how you can do the New Zealand Trick to get early access to NBA 2K24. Here’s a little tip: It involves New Zealand and its time zone.
How to do New Zealand Trick to play NBA 2K24 Early
To play NBA 2K24 slightly earlier in your respective time zone, you’ll need to utilize a method called the New Zealand trick. This trick has worked in the past but now we’ve been getting reports that success is no longer as guaranteed as before on PlayStation consoles. Still, it is worth a try considering the only thing it’ll cost you is a little bit of waiting at most. But if successful, and you happen to live in the US, this will allow you to play the game 16 hours earlier than expected.
The following steps will show how this method is done on PlayStation consoles.
Step 1: You’ll need to pre-order NBA 2K24. This doesn’t really matter which version you order. The only difference is that you’ll get more stuff like boosters for free cards. The Black Mamba will set you back quite a bit but it includes additional content for practically all game modes.
Step 2: Pre-load NBA 2K24. It is been rumored that the pre-download size for the game is over 110 GB on PC. We do know that the game requires 150 GB of free space according to its Steam description. So, we can assume that it’s going to be similar on PlayStation.
Step 3: Go to Settings and then go to System. Once you’ve accessed the screen, go to Date and Time.
Step 4: Change your system’s timezone to Wellington.
After you’ve committed to the changes, reset your PlayStation. You can choose to keep the setting for the next however long the game releases in your region. Do keep in mind that, depending on where you are located, your PING could be in the red the entire time. If you’re not opening free stuff, you may want to choose to go offline for a while. When the game goes live globally, you are cleared to return your settings to your local region.
Alternatively, you can create a new PlayStation profile and set its region to New Zealand. It is extremely annoying considering that you’ll need to purchase the game on the account itself. Consider this method a last resort. You won’t have access to the content on your main account and will be forced to start again once the game goes live in your region.
Note: If you want to do this on Xbox, you’ll need to go to Language and Location under System. You then want to change the Location to New Zealand before resetting your system.
Unfortunately, this method is not likely to work on PC as Steam is very particular about regional pricing and it might be more of a hassle to make work.
When does NBA 2K24 come out in New Zealand?
NBA 2K24 will be released in New Zealand on September 7th at exactly 8:00 AM EST or 5:00 AM PST. For the rest of the world, the game will be released on September 8th at 12:00 AM EST or September 7th at 9:00 PM PST.
And that’s everything we have for this quick NBA 2K early guide. If you follow the steps noted above, you can potentially start playing the game earlier than its intended midnight launch time.
With an early start, you’ll be able to fully customize your new MyPlayer and open all the free launch MyTeam packs (hopefully with Kobe Bryant if you have purchased the more expensive packages.)
NBA 2K24 is set to release on September 8th, 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox consoles, and PC (via Steam).
