How to play EA FC 24 early: Early access glitch with New Zealand timezone change

Anyone who has pre-ordered EA FC 24’s Ultimate Edition can access the game up to 12 hours before the early access period officially begins thanks to a simple trick.

For the past decade, fans eagerly awaiting the new installment of FIFA have been able to access the game a few days early if they pre-order the right edition. EA Play, formerly known as EA Access, has gotten people in up to three days early for a total of 10 hours of playtime.

Over the years, players have found workarounds to extend that 10 hours into an unlimited period until the game officially launches, and get in before the early access period begins too. 

With FIFA now switching to EA SPORTS FC, some fans may have wondered if those workarounds were going to be patched up. However, it turns out they aren’t.

How to play EA FC 24 before early access on Xbox

That’s right, if you’ve pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition of EA FC 24, you are able to get into the early access portion of the game from 1pm on September 21. 

How, you might ask? Well, the classic New Zealand trick – where you change your console region to New Zealand and access the game from there – is still workable.

We must stress that this is only a thing for Xbox players, but it works the exact same way as it has for the past few years. You can get into the game early and eat into your 10 hours in every mode you want to – be that Career, Ultimate Team, Pro Clubs, or whatever else.  

1. Go to the Settings menu on your Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S
2. Find the ‘System’ section
3. Choose Language & Location 
4. Change your location to New Zealand
5. Change your language region to New Zealand
6. Restart your console
7. Launch EA FC 24

As noted, this only works for users on Xbox. PlayStation doesn’t have the same ability to jump to another region like this, and typically requires a different trick to workaround things.

In FIFA 23, players were able to get into the game early through EA Play. However, that doesn’t appear to be happening this year. So, you’ll have to just wait a little longer if you’re not on Xbox.