Gamers are getting The Outer Worlds early access via their console settings. While this upcoming game from Obsidian Entertainment and Private Division isn’t set to release until tomorrow, a handful of clever gamers have tinkered with their Xbox One settings in order to play The Outer Worlds early.
A submission by /u/ConfusedCartman on the /r/theouterworlds subreddit has the details. The Redditor begins by stating that he noticed some of the new games coming to Xbox Game Pass are getting “significantly earlier debuts” in certain regions. As a test, he changed his console’s region to New Zealand and discovered that he could get The Outer Worlds early access by a margin of 17 hours.
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The trick is similar to a situation that took place with the launch of Gears 5; players for that game also had changed their region on the Xbox One to New Zealand. At the time, Gears 5 developer The Coalition cautioned people against changing their Xbox One region, categorizing it as “cheating the system.” However, gamers retorted by pointing out that this is an easy-to-access option on the dashboard.
A subsequent /r/xboxone submission notes that, as of 7:00 AM Eastern Time, The Outer Worlds is now live in New Zealand. This would mean that anyone who owns the game on Xbox One and changes their console region to New Zealand could play it right now.
A word of caution: Do note that The Coalition said that this isn’t an officially-supported method for playing the game. We do not endorse using this The Outer Worlds early access method—do so entirely at your own risk! No public comment has arisen on the official Twitter accounts for The Outer Worlds, Obsidian Entertainment, or Private Division at the time of writing.
While some games opt to have a simultaneous worldwide release, The Outer Worlds development team made the decision to stagger its launch based on time zones, and some players are taking advantage of it. Whether you use this console settings trick (at your own risk, mind!) to play the game early or wait for it like a gentleman, you’ll finally be able to dive into The Outer Worlds today.
