Play Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth early with New Zealand release time trick

SEGA’s newest installment in the legendary Yakuza saga is massively exciting. Reviews are extremely positive, and some have even dubbed it the very best in the franchise. While it doesn’t officially launch for a couple more days, you can get early access through a common exploit on Xbox. Here is how to play Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth early by using the New Zealand release time trick on your Xbox One or Series X/S console.

In our Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth review, we gave it a 9/10. We praised the story for its characters and powerful themes, and we also heaped praise on the fun side stories and wacky mini-games that the series is so renowned for including. The only downside to the newest Yakuza game is that, if you plan on buying, you need to pre-order either the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition to get new game plus.

Locking new game plus behind a paywall is annoying, but the game is still said to be an incredible marvel. Assuming you’ve pre-ordered, you can patiently wait a couple more days until the official launch, or you can get a few hours of early access by exploiting the New Zealand trick.

Does Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth have early access?

There is no early access pre-order bonus for Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, but the release time on PC is one day earlier than Xbox and PlayStation consoles. For consoles, it is a local midnight launch on January 26th, whereas on PC it unlocks fairly early on January 25th for players in the United States and the United Kingdom.

While there is no early access pre-order bonus, each of the packages come with the following items (via PSN store):

Standard edition – £59.99:

• Hero’s Booster Pack:
  • Leveling Set (Small) x 1
  • Gearworks Crafting Set (Small) x 1
  • Job Leveling Set (Small) x 1
• Special job set:
  • Male Job: Linebacker will be available to all male party members.
    Female Job: Tennis Ace will be available to all female party members.

Deluxe edition – £74.99:

• Hero’s Booster Pack:
  • Leveling Set (Small) x 1
  • Gearworks Crafting Set (Small) x 1
  • Job Leveling Set (Small) x 1
• Special job set:
  • Male Job: Linebacker will be available to all male party members.
    Female Job: Tennis Ace will be available to all female party members.
• Master Vacation Bundle

Ultimate edition – £94.99:

• Hero’s Booster Pack:
  • Leveling Set (Small) x 1
  • Gearworks Crafting Set (Small) x 1
  • Job Leveling Set (Small) x 1
• Special job set:
  • Male Job: Linebacker will be available to all male party members.
    Female Job: Tennis Ace will be available to all female party members.
• Master Vacation Bundle
• Assorted Outfit Bundle
• Sujimon & Resort Bundle
• Yakuza CD Collection Set

How to play Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth early?

Aside from buying the game on PC where it launches one day earlier than on console, players on Xbox can get a few hours early access to Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth by exploiting the New Zealand trick.

For the NZ trick to work, you need to have pre-ordered and preloaded the game on your Xbox console. It is available for Xbox One and Series X/S. Then, once it unlocks in New Zealand, simply follow the below steps:

• Start your Xbox
•  Head to Settings
•  Click System
•  Choose Language and Location
•  Change location to New Zealand
•  Restart your Xbox

New Zealand release time

The release time for Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth in New Zealand is 12 AM NZDT on January 26th. This is according to the countdowns on the PSN and Microsoft stores that suggest it has a local midnight release per region. The NZ trick should work in the United States and United Kingdom at 3 AM PT/ 6 AM ET/ 11 AM GMT on January 25th.

Once the aforementioned hours pass, all you need to do is change your location to NZ and the trick should work to allow you to play one day. Again, you need to have already pre-ordered and preloaded.

For more Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, check out all of its trophies and achievements. You can also discover if it is coming to Xbox Game Pass.