How to Play MW3 Multiplayer Early on All Platforms

Now's a good time to know someone with an Xbox

MW3 campaign
Image via Activision

If you just can’t wait until Call of Duty’s official release, you’re in luck. Here’s how to play MW3 Multiplayer Early on All Platforms.

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How to Play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (COD: MW3) Early on All Platforms

While MW3’s campaign might have been lackluster, the real feast has always been COD’s multiplayer. And if you can’t wait to start fragging, grinding, and dropshotting, you’re in luck. There’s a way that all players can get into MW3’s multiplayer early.

But for this method to work, you must be on Xbox or know someone who has one.

The method we’ll be using is called the New Zealand trick. Using this method, we can trick your console (and the game) into thinking you’re in a region where COD’s multiplayer is already released. Here’s how it works.

How to Play Call of Modern Warfare 3 (COD: MW3) Early on Xbox

Xbox players will have the easiest time pulling this off. And, in fact, every platform will need your help to play early.

  • Go to Settings
  • Scroll to and select System
  • Select Language & location
  • Beneath the Location drop-down menu, select Region.
  • From the Region menu, select New Zealand.
  • Reboot your Xbox.

Now, you can bask in the glory of early-access MW3 Team Deathmatch. So long as you don’t change back your region, anyway.

How to Play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Early on PlayStation

Technically, you can do this trick with PlayStation, too. But it will run you a pretty penny. Here’s how it works.

  • Make a brand-new account and set it to New Zealand
  • Buy (or re-buy) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

The better option is to join a friend on Xbox who’s done the New Zealand trick. You can join their lobby in MW3, which will let you play with them. However, once you leave their lobby, you’ll no longer have access to multiplayer.

But there’s a way to get around this. If you want to play alone, you must join your Xbox friend’s game. You’ll then need to enter the firing range and have your friend kick you from their game. Once they do this, you can play solo or invite others to your game.

How to Play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Early on PC

Like PlayStation 5, the New Zealand trick simply doesn’t work on the PC. But there are a few workarounds.

You can join an Xbox player’s lobby to play the game with them. Usually, once you leave, you’ll be locked out of multiplayer until the game officially releases. But you can get around this by entering the firing range and having your friend kick you.

Once you do this, the game still thinks you’re in the correct region, so you’ll be able to play by yourself or host a brand-new session.

About the Author

Daphne Fama

A Staff Writer at Prima Games since 2022, Daphne Fama spends an inordinate amount playing games of all stripes but has a soft spot for horror, FPS, and RPGs. When she’s not gaming, she’s an author and member of the Horror Writers Association with a debut novel coming out in 2025. In a previous life, she was an attorney but found she preferred fiction to contracts and forms