How to play Skull and Bones early with the New Zealand trick

The highly anticipated pirate game Skull and Bones is nearly here, and eager pirates can set sail early using the classic New Zealand trick to unlock the game ahead of launch. If you want to start plundering early, it’s super easy to get access to Skull and Bones right now.

The game has an Early Access period available for people who purchase the Deluxe Edition of the game, but the New Zealand trick will let you play even sooner than that. If you have the standard edition of the game, however, you still won’t be able to play during the three-day Early Access period. You’ll have to wait until the day before the official launch on February 16 with the New Zealand trick.

How to Play Skull and Bones Early on Xbox

As always, the New Zealand trick works best on Xbox. To play Skull and Bones early on Xbox, just follow these steps.

1. Go to your system settings.
2. Choose System.
3. Select Language & Location.
4. Set your location to New Zealand.
5. Restart your console.

After rebooting, your console will think it’s in New Zealand and Skull and Bones will be playable. You can check the Xbox store to verify if the trick worked. If you see NZ$ as the currency, then you did the New Zealand trick successfully!

How to Play Skull and Bones Early on PlayStation

On PlayStation, the New Zealand trick is more complicated. Instead of simply changing your region, you need to buy the game on the New Zealand PlayStation Store. This requires a separate account, so if you’ve already pre-ordered Skull and Bones on your main account, you’re out of luck unless you want to buy another copy.

Related: How to get a Crowbar in Skull and Bones

If you’re willing to buy the game on the New Zealand store, just make an alternate PSN account with its location set to New Zealand. Then, just buy Skull and Bones on that profile and make sure you have game-sharing set up so you can access it on your main account. To do that, head to your PS5 system settings on the New Zealand account, choose Users and Accounts, select Other, and finally enable Console Sharing and Offline Play.

Purchasing games at the New Zealand store can be tricky with foreign credit cards, so you may need to buy New Zealand PSN gift cards to buy the game. You can get these from multiple online retailers, but be careful since they might end up charging you more than the cards are worth.

How to Play Skull and Bones Early on PC

Sadly, the New Zealand trick doesn’t work on PC since Skull and Bones is only available via Ubisoft Connect and the Epic Games Store. You’ll have to wait until the official launch in your region to start playing Skull and Bones on PC.

Thankfully, the game will be released at midnight on both launchers unlike Steam, which tends to hold games until noon on the day of release. While it’s unfortunate that the New Zealand trick doesn’t work for PC gamers, there’s still plenty of time for Deluxe Edition owners to start grinding Infamy ranks ahead of the full launch later this week.