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Changing XB1 region to play a game early

S

superNESjoe

Member
Probably a dumb question, but I remember when Destiny came out there were lots of people who changed their Xbox One region from US to Australia so they could play it a day early. Apparently you could change your console region as much as you want.

My question is that I pre ordered MGS V digitally, if I change my region can I play that digital version early? If so, are there any risks and can I change my console region back 24 hours later?
 
L

lentini

Member
It'll only unlock early (Australian time) if you buy the game from that region. As you bought it from the US market place, it'll unlock at US time.
 
K

keidashxd

Member
Did you buy in the US store? I think it's related to that, if you buy in the australian marketplace it activates within their time region specifics.

If you buy it in the US marketplace no matter where region you log it will activate in US time.
 
T

tuna_love

Banned
Destiny didn't work :(. I think I've seen people say if you redeem an amazon code in a different store it will unlock early.
 
VE3TRO

VE3TRO

Formerly Gizmowned
It unlocks to the region purchased. 2 reasons I now purchase from Hong Kong and Singapore. Play games early and cheapest. MGSV will unlock in 6 hours for me and cost me about £23.

I keep my XB1 set to UK region and just purchase through Xbox.com by changing region here - http://www.xbox.com/Shell/ChangeLocale
 
L

lifeexpectancy

Member
tuna_love said:
Destiny didn't work :(. I think I've seen people say if you redeem an amazon code in a different store it will unlock early.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for Destiny because I didn't do it with that one, but I do believe some folks did it with that game.

I know for a fact that you can, at least with most games, play them early IF you buy them from that region's marketplace. I got some Hong Kong Dollars currency codes from Play-Asia and purchased Halo: TMCC from the Honk-Kong marketplace to play it like 14 or 15 hours early. It does work (with most games anyway), as long as you buy from that region's digital marketplace.

OP - it won't work for you because you bought it on the US marketplace, as others have said.
 
J

JumPeRJumPzZ

Banned
lifeexpectancy said:
I can't speak for Destiny because I didn't do it with that one, but I do believe some folks did it with that game.

I know for a fact that you can, at least with most games, play them early IF you buy them from that region's marketplace. I got some Hong Kong Dollars currency codes from Play-Asia and purchased Halo: TMCC from the Honk-Kong marketplace to play it like 14 or 15 hours early. It does work (with most games anyway), as long as you buy from that region's digital marketplace.

OP - it won't work for you because you bought it on the US marketplace, as others have said.
Click to expand...

Ive bought MGSV, Halo 5 and Gears UE from the Singapore store and can play a day before official release :D
Today is MGS5 unlock time.
 
VE3TRO

VE3TRO

Formerly Gizmowned
Terbinator said:
I clicked HK and it still stays on the UK store for me?
Click to expand...

Go to the game page you want to purchase then scroll down to the bottom and choose change country. Once new country is chose it will change. I don't think the link I gave will work because it doesn't have a return URL.
 
T

Terbinator

Member
VE3TRO said:
Go to the game page you want to purchase then scroll down to the bottom and choose change country. Once new country is chose it will change. I don't think the link I gave will work because it doesn't have a return URL.
Click to expand...

Working.

What a time to be alive -
F6:UE £53 lol.
 
N

NippleViking

Banned
VE3TRO said:
It unlocks to the region purchased. 2 reasons I now purchase from Hong Kong and Singapore. Play games early and cheapest. MGSV will unlock in 6 hours for me and cost me about £23.

I keep my XB1 set to UK region and just purchase through Xbox.com by changing region here - http://www.xbox.com/Shell/ChangeLocale
Click to expand...

Does purchasing from Hong Kong and Singapore ever create any issues? Would love to move to all digital, but here in Australia our digital prices are obscene!
 
VE3TRO

VE3TRO

Formerly Gizmowned
NippleViking said:
Does purchasing from Hong Kong and Singapore ever create any issues? Would love to move to all digital, but here in Australia our digital prices are obscene!
Click to expand...

Only if you need to do a refund for some reason. I bought Halo: MCC from Hong Kong then got given a code for free so I decided to request a refund but customer services started questioning why I had so many purchases from different countries in such a little time. They said they will do the refund but they never got back in touch so I left it.
 
G

Grazzt

Member
NippleViking said:
Does purchasing from Hong Kong and Singapore ever create any issues? Would love to move to all digital, but here in Australia our digital prices are obscene!
Click to expand...

I'm in Australia too and I always buy games from Hong Kong and US market. Haven't had any issues.
Is it true that unlock time is depended on where you buy the game, not where you download it?
 
S

Spades

Member
Grazzt said:
But what about digital game codes come with the bundles?
I preorder the halo 5 bundle and should I redeem the code in New Zealand market if I want to play it early?
Click to expand...

Normally when you use a code, it'll be tied to the region that your console is set to when you redeem it. So if it is set to US and you redeem a code, it'll be a US region that is available on US release date.
 
BeforeU

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Unfortunately no. I bought Destiny from US store, changed my region to HK and it did not work. I believe you have to buy the game from that specific region.

God typing this I am remembering all th Destiny hype lol first time ever I spent 100$ on 1 game lmao. All dreams shattered :(
 
D

Diablohead

Member
is it possible to buy US download codes from amazon.com for xbox live titles from outside the US? or did amazon put a stop to that?
 
D

DarthWalden

Banned
Has anyone figured out where the absolute cheapest place is to buy games based on conversion rates? Or do they maintain them pretty good.
 
G

GreyWind

Member
VE3TRO said:
It unlocks to the region purchased. 2 reasons I now purchase from Hong Kong and Singapore. Play games early and cheapest. MGSV will unlock in 6 hours for me and cost me about £23.

I keep my XB1 set to UK region and just purchase through Xbox.com by changing region here - http://www.xbox.com/Shell/ChangeLocale
Click to expand...

A question, can you buy games from another region with your regular credit card?

Because I could use this method as games here in Canada are so expensive :'(
 
T

Trini

Neo Member
VE3TRO said:
It unlocks to the region purchased. 2 reasons I now purchase from Hong Kong and Singapore. Play games early and cheapest. MGSV will unlock in 6 hours for me and cost me about £23.

I keep my XB1 set to UK region and just purchase through Xbox.com by changing region here - http://www.xbox.com/Shell/ChangeLocale
Click to expand...

Im thinking of buying 2k16 from HK region but I was wondering where did you buy the gift cards and how long did it take to get the codes?
 
J

jesu

Member
Trini said:
Im thinking of buying 2k16 from HK region but I was wondering where did you buy the gift cards and how long did it take to get the codes?
Click to expand...

You can buy Hong Kong cards from playasia, your first order might take a couple of hours to go through and they will phone you on your paypal phone number but after that you will get the codes quicker.
 
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