Fans Have Figured Out A Way To Play Cyberpunk 2077 A Day Early

In the words of Tom Petty, "the waiting is the hardest part," and it looks like some fans couldn't wait until the Dec. 10 release date to get their hands on Cyberpunk 2077. According to reports on Twitter and Reddit, Xbox players are able to start playing the CD Projekt Red game a day early by changing their location and time zone to New Zealand, where the game has already been released.

The official Twitter for Cyberpunk 2077 posted a map with release dates around the world for PC and Stadia on Dec. 3 and announced that the game would be available on consoles everywhere at "midnight local time." However, game journalist Andy Robinson pointed out the nifty trick for Xbox owners on his Twitter early Dec. 9, and other players confirmed that it does indeed work. Though some fans rejoiced at this discovery, others pointed out that playing the game early means no day one patch, and they are willing to wait. A number of jokes made the rounds as well, with one comment suggesting that characters now have different accents and another claiming that Keanu Reeves has been replaced by a character from Flight of the Conchords.

A post made by HarryWJohnson on Reddit gave instructions on how to change Xbox settings to New Zealand's region and time zone: Under Settings, go to System and then select Language and Location. Select New Zealand from the list, and players are good to go. Animal Crossing fans have already known about this "time travel" secret for years, but now that more and more games are being purchased digitally rather than opting for a disc, it was only a matter of time before more gamers figured out this hack. In fact, one Twitter user claimed to have been using the trick for a while. Unfortunately, only Xbox owners are able to take advantage of the shortcut to become honorary Kiwis, so PlayStation fans are out of luck.

So far, neither CD Projekt Red nor Xbox have acknowledged the early release shortcut — though it's hard to imagine how it would affect the companies directly. Cyberpunk 2077 has dealt with a lot of issues over the last year, including a number of delays. Most recently, Cyberpunk 2077 has had to contend with reports that the game is causing seizures, and they have since made an announcement that they are working on a "permanent solution" to address the issue. Cyberpunk 2077 officially releases on midnight Dec 10.