{"id":7867,"date":"2026-05-14T16:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/14\/forza-horizon-6-release-times-and-nz-trick\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:06:19","slug":"forza-horizon-6-release-times-and-nz-trick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/14\/forza-horizon-6-release-times-and-nz-trick\/","title":{"rendered":"Forza Horizon 6 Release Times and NZ Trick"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tImage credit: Microsoft\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>|<\/p>\n<p id=\"wp-block-gamurs-article-metadata__date-and-time__published__1101856\" class=\"wp-block-gamurs-article-metadata__date-and-time\" data-datetime=\"2026-05-14T13:10:12+02:00\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLast Updated On: May 14, 2026 1:10 pm CEST\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>With Forza Horizon 6 almost here and everybody already wanting to know what time they can start their engines, the main thing you need to know is that not every platform unlocks at exactly the same local time. Xbox Series X|S and the Xbox app on PC use a rolling midnight launch, which means players in some regions can start earlier than others, while Steam follows one global release time based on US Eastern time, which makes things even more confusing. <\/p>\n<ol class=\"toc-list\">\n<li data-target=\"toc-what-time-does-forza-horizon-6-go-live\">What time does Forza Horizon 6 go live?<\/li>\n<li data-target=\"toc-how-to-use-the-forza-horizon-6-new-zealand-trick\">How to use the Forza Horizon 6 New Zealand trick<\/li>\n<li data-target=\"toc-other-forza-horizon-6-pages-to-check-out\">Other Forza Horizon 6 pages to check out<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>That also means the classic \u201cNew Zealand trick\u201d is back for Xbox gamers hoping to get behind the wheel a little sooner and see a bit of Japan first.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s all calm down a bit, work out some times and present them in a nice (correct) easy-to-read format for you all that couldn\u2019t be clearer. It\u2019s a deal.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"toc-what-time-does-forza-horizon-6-go-live\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What time does Forza Horizon 6 go live?<\/h2>\n<p>You may well see some different times on some fairly big gaming websites that are wrong and the time conversion is out by a couple of hours. British Summer Time does that to people. Spring Forward Fall Back people!<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, here is a correct list of timings for Xbox and Steam.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Forza Horizon 6 Premium Edition \/ Early Access release times<\/h3>\n<p>RegionXbox Series X|S \/ Xbox app on PCSteamUSA Pacific (PDT)May 14, 9:01pmMay 14, 9:01pmUSA Eastern (EDT)May 15, 12:01amMay 15, 12:01amUK (BST)May 15, 12:01amMay 15, 5:01amCentral Europe (CEST)May 15, 12:01amMay 15, 6:01amJapan (JST)May 15, 12:01amMay 15, 1:01pmAustralia East (AEST)May 15, 12:01amMay 15, 2:01pmNew Zealand (NZST)May 15, 12:01amMay 15, 4:01pm<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Forza Horizon 6 Standard \/ Deluxe Edition release times<\/h3>\n<p>RegionXbox Series X|S \/ Xbox app on PCSteamUSA Pacific (PDT)May 18, 9:01pmMay 18, 9:01pmUSA Eastern (EDT)May 19, 12:01amMay 19, 12:01amUK (BST)May 19, 12:01amMay 19, 5:01amCentral Europe (CEST)May 19, 12:01amMay 19, 6:01amJapan (JST)May 19, 12:01amMay 19, 1:01pmAustralia East (AEST)May 19, 12:01amMay 19, 2:01pmNew Zealand (NZST)May 19, 12:01amMay 19, 4:01pm<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"toc-how-to-use-the-forza-horizon-6-new-zealand-trick\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to use the Forza Horizon 6 New Zealand trick<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019ve spent enough time around big game launches, you\u2019ve probably heard players talking about the \u201cNew Zealand trick.\u201d It pops up almost every time a major Xbox release uses a rolling midnight launch, and Forza Horizon 6 is no exception.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is simple. Since New Zealand is in the future and reaches midnight before almost anywhere else. It is a futuristic Blade Runner-esque place with flying cars and the like. Players there gain access to the game hours ahead of regions like the UK and the US. Because Xbox unlocks according to local regional time, changing your console location can potentially let you jump in earlier.<\/p>\n<p>For UK players, that can mean access from around 1pm the previous day, while players in the US can get in during the morning rather than waiting until midnight in their own region.<\/p>\n<p>To do it:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Open <strong>Settings<\/strong> on your Xbox console<\/li>\n<li>Go to <strong>System<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Select <strong>Language &amp; location<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Change your location to <strong>New Zealand<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Restart your Xbox completely<\/li>\n<li>Launch Forza Horizon 6 from your library once the unlock time arrives<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It\u2019s worth noting that this only applies to the Xbox ecosystem and Microsoft Store version of the game, where unlocks happen region by region. Steam uses a single global launch time, so PC players on Valve\u2019s platform won\u2019t gain anything by trying it.<\/p>\n<p>Once Forza Horizon 6 officially launches in your own region, you\u2019ll probably want to switch your console location back again so your storefront, pricing, and regional settings return to normal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Important:<\/strong> Microsoft generally hasn\u2019t acted against players using the New Zealand trick for previous launches, but you\u2019re changing your console region at your own discretion.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"toc-other-forza-horizon-6-pages-to-check-out\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other Forza Horizon 6 pages to check out<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t The Escapist is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.\u00a0Learn more about our Affiliate Policy\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image credit: Microsoft | Last Updated On: May 14, 2026 1:10 pm CEST With Forza Horizon 6 almost here and everybody already wanting to know what time they can start their engines, the main thing you need to know is that not every platform unlocks at exactly the same local time. Xbox Series X|S and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[332,333,541,2283,7652],"class_list":{"0":"post-7867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-releases","8":"tag-forza","9":"tag-horizon","10":"tag-release","11":"tag-times","12":"tag-trick"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}