How to play Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom early: New Zealand trick explained

With May 12 ushering in a new iteration of an epic Hyrule-based adventure for Zelda fans, many of us are naturally looking for ways to play The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as early as possible. Luckily, there’s a way to bypass the official release times and play the game before the regional launch. 

If you reside in North America, the official release of Tears of the Kingdom for the region’s east coast is 12:01am EDT on May 12, while the west coast will be able to play the game from 9:00pm PDT (11pm CT) on May 11—the difference is to maintain uniformity within the region. The game will go live on May 12 at 12:01am local time in all other regions.  

Now, there’s a workaround you can try to grab a chance at playing the highly anticipated new Zelda game on your Nintendo Switch hours before the actual release time in your region. And no, you don’t need to dig around for a New Zealand or Australia-based credit card for this trick to work.

This legendary Nintendo eShop trick will let you play Tears of the Kingdom early 

Unfortunately for players, the commonly suggested trick of creating a New Zealand or Australian Nintendo account will not work unless you have a debit/credit card based in those regions.

That being said, you can purchase Nintendo eShop credits through eStores like OffGamers, Playtech New Zealand, and Play-Asia, which will let you purchase Nintendo eShop credits in New Zealand or Australian dollars. 

Now that you know the gist, here’s how you can play Tears of the Kingdom almost 12 hours earlier than the actual release time. 

First, you’ll need to create a new Nintendo account and base it in Australia or New Zealand (preferable). Make sure to input a valid regional address and a pin code. 

Once done, visit offgamers.com or any reliable website that offers Nintendo eShop credits for use in New Zealand or Australia. Make sure the platform you purchase those credits from is trustworthy. It’s easy to fall prey to scams when buying credits from third-party platforms—make the purchase at your own discretion.

Next, buy the number of credits you’ll need for Tears of the Kingdom based on your chosen region. The game is priced at $89.95 (Australian dollars) in the Australian eShop, unlike its $69.99 tag in the United States. 

Related: Nintendo says Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s $70 tag reflects the game’s ‘experience’

After purchase, you should receive the code in your email once the platform processes the transaction. Note that it may take a few hours to over a day for you to receive the redeemable code. Once you do, log into your newly created Nintendo account and head to the Australia/New Zealand eShop to redeem the credits. 

Voila. You can now access Tears of the Kingdom right after midnight strikes in the East. 

While the workaround may entice some Zelda fans, it might be a bit too complicated for casual players. But it’s a good option for newbies who just bought a shiny new Nintendo Switch (The TotK edition looks marvelous, by the way) and are yet to have an eShop account. You can also switch your region of the Nintendo account to your actual one after the game releases. 

Considering the small difference (around 12 hours) in release times, you may want to skip the hassle of creating a new account and purchasing foreign credits from possibly shady sellers.

Unless you are a die-hard Zelda fan, it’s likely you wouldn’t want to have a separate Nintendo account from your primary just to play Tears of the Kingdom early. After all, Link is back with his allies and is here to stay.