NBA 2K24 New Zealand Time Zone Trick for Early Access

If you're looking to snag NBA 2K24 early access and play as soon as possible, there might actually be a way to pull that off this year thanks to an old favorite launch method. With the release date closing in, players chomping at the bit to dive in would no doubt cherish a headstart of even a few extra hours.

You'll also want to keep in mind how to download the game early and preload, as waiting for launch time to get the NBA 2K24 installation started could leave you with a significant delay. Whether you're just curious how it might work or are hoping to use it for early access, here's everything we know about the NBA 2K24 New Zealand time zone trick.

NBA 2K24 New Zealand Time Zone Trick

While the official NBA 2K24 release date is set for September 8, 2023, that doesn't mean players won't be looking to dive in a bit early. Unlike major sports releases such as MLB The Show 23 and Madden 24, NBA 2K24 has actually not included any multi-day early access options with their deluxe editions of the game.

However, there is a longstanding method which can tend to see mixed success that players may want to attempt. To put it as simply as possible, midnight on release date comes earliest in New Zealand compared to other time zones and regions across the world.

This means that for games which drop at midnight by region, New Zealand players will actually gain access to the title several hours before the rest of the world. Of course, there is a catch. Some games instead use a simultaneous worldwide launch time rather than regional times, and so far there's no clear confirmation on which release timing will be used for NBA 2K24.

If you want to try this method later this week, Xbox and Nintendo Switch players can simply head into their console settings and set region to New Zealand or Australia/New Zealand then restart the system to make sure it takes effect. If this method doesn't work for you, it's likely that developers have finally found a way to block this or 2K has chosen to implement a simultaneous worldwide launch rather than one dependent on different time zone drops.

The method is technically possible for PlayStation users as well, but it's riskier and comes with a potentially frustrating hiccup. To take advantage of this trick on PlayStation, you'd need to create a new account based in New Zealand and purchase the game using that account. If you wanted to then use your main account to play at a later time, you'd have to use Console Sharing and deal with progress being wiped when you start on the main account, which may not make trying it worthwhile for PS4 or PS5 players.