It's that time once again! As Monster Hunter Rise starts to roll out on Xbox Game Pass, players are beginning to "move to New Zealand" in order to play the game a little earlier than anticipated.

That's because rather than a global launch time, Monster Hunter Rise has arrived early in New Zealand, and users across social media are posting about a virtual trip.

If you want to know how to switch to New Zealand on Xbox, here's how you do it:

How To 'Move To New Zealand' For Monster Hunter Rise On Xbox

  1. Sign in to your Xbox console.
  2. Press the Xbox button to open the guide.
  3. Select Settings > All Settings > System > Language & location.
  4. Select your new location from the Location list, and then select Restart now.

Before you do this, we can't stress enough that switching regions on Xbox is something to do at your own risk. It's a tactic Xbox owners have been using for a long time, but there's always the potential of getting punished for it.... the ball is in Microsoft's court with this one.

Keep in mind that Microsoft also advises changing regions can potentially lock you out of changing to another one for a period of three months, although we've never seen any reports of this, so you should be OK.

If you'd rather wait until Monster Hunter Rise launches locally in your region, we've got an extensive Monster Hunter Rise release date and release time guide elsewhere on Pure Xbox.

Are you tempted to do the NZ trick for Monster Hunter Rise? Let us know your plans down below!