Xbox owners are moving to New Zealand en masse ahead of the Forza Horizon 6 release time on Xbox Game Pass. For reasons I'm sure you know well enough by now.
For those who own an Xbox and have somehow missed it, the New Zealand trick refers to players changing the location on their Xbox console to make it think they're in New Zealand, which in turn allows them to play games that are set to release at 12am local time at the earliest possible moment – aka the New Zealand timezone. It's been a thing for years – and while technically possible on other platforms, it's far easier to do on Xbox, as the likes of PlayStation require you to buy the game from the New Zealand storefront too.
And despite Forza Horizon 6 being playable before now thanks to its early access launch – not to mention a very prominent leak on PC – the actual launch still has some who can't wait. As spotted by PureXbox, people searching for the game on Google have been flooding the search engine with the likes of "When does Forza Horizon 6 come out in New Zealand."
Looking to the Forza Horizon 6 subreddits, it sure does back up that a lot of people are making the same trip at the same time.
It's understandable why people are keen mind you, given that Forza Horizon 6 has already beaten Pokemon Pokopia, Mewgenics, and Resident Evil Requiem to become 2026's best-rated game of the year, not to mention it's off the back of the massively popular Forza Horizon 5 and the first entry in just under five years – and as someone who hates the "pay more for early access" trend, I'm proud to see some are playing early the old fashioned way.
Plus, Xbox doesn't seem to mind, as the Australian Xbox account acknowledged this when Forza Horizon 5 launched, saying, "Kia Ora to all the people who moved to NZ last night!"
Sadly, the Forza Horizon 6 PS5 release date won't be found by going to New Zealand, but for those of you who do have it, be sure to check out the Forza Horizon 6 car list and where to get all of the Barn Finds and treasure cars.
