Technologies

Xbox Brought These Call of Duty and Warcraft Games to Game Pass in June

While Microsoft is adding a bunch of games to Xbox Game Pass. It’s also removed a handful of others from the service.

The Call of Duty franchise got its start as a first-person shooter set during World War II. Game Pass subscribers can now return to that war and take part in historical battles in Call of Duty: WWII.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a CNET Editors’ Choice award pick, offers hundreds of games you can play on your Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One and PC or mobile device for $20 a month. A subscription gives you access to a large library of games, with new titles, including Doom: The Dark Ages, added monthly, plus other benefits such as online multiplayer and deals on non-Game Pass titles.

Read more: Play Classic Games From the ’80s and ’90s on Xbox Game Pass Now

Here are all the games Microsoft is bringing to Game Pass soon. You can also check out all the titles the company added to the service in May, like Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Call of Duty: WWII

Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play now.

Land in Normandy on D-Day and battle across Europe in this Call of Duty game. You’ll trade in some of the more modern gadgets and guns from the Modern Warfare and Black Ops games for grease guns and classic carbines in this game from 2017. You’ll also experience the bonds of camaraderie, the unforgiving nature of war and more as you fight against the Nazis.

Warcraft 1: Remastered (PC)

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.

Get ready to experience the war between orcs and humans that shook Azeroth more than 30 years ago. You decide whether to defend humanity or seek to destroy it playing this real-time strategy game. This version of the classic game features enhanced controls, widescreen battles and more updates so you can enjoy this game on modern hardware.

Warcraft 2: Remastered (PC)

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.

After playing the original Warcraft game, you can hop into the sequel. You’ll captain your own fleet and explore far-off lands for this real-time strategy game that delves even further into the war between orcs and humans. This updated version includes modernized controls, new visuals and more fresh features.

Warcraft 3: Reforged (PC)

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.

After playing the first and second Warcraft games, why not play the third installment? This game introduces two new races of armies to command: the Night Elves and the Undead. Build massive armies, relive epic battles and explore huge campaigns in this real-time strategy game filled with overhauled visuals and contemporary social and matchmaking features.

Star Trucker

New to Game Pass Standard.

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers have been able to play this interstellar hauling game since September, and now Game Pass Standard subscribers can enjoy it as well. Haul cargo, trade items with other truckers and explore the ultimate open road — outer space. Take the driver’s seat in a rocket-powered big rig and cruise the hyperhighways as you deliver cargo across the galaxy. Customize your rig, gossip on your CB radio with other truckers and enjoy your view of the stars.

Wildfrost

New to Game Pass Standard.

Microsoft brought this to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in January, and now the company is bringing it to Game Pass Standard customers. An endless winter has blanketed the world and to banish it, you need to build the perfect deck to battle the evil forces across the cold land. You’ll rescue and recruit frozen companions and uncover treasure in the frozen tundra. The deck you build is influenced by the path you take, so choose carefully.

Rematch

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.

Tackle, dribble and score in this team-based football game (or soccer, depending on your locale). This game was designed for 5v5 online multiplayer matches where players control a single athlete. That means you’ll have to coordinate and plan with the rest of your team if you want to win. And with no player stats to give one person an advantage over another, coordination is the key to success.

Volcano Princess

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.

This game is technically a social simulation game, but you can also call it a parenting game. You’re the king of the Volcano Kingdom, and after your wife dies, you have to raise your daughter alone. That means it’s up to you to ensure she has everything she needs to grow. You’ll explore new hobbies with her, show her court etiquette and watch as she grows and matures.

Against the Storm (console and cloud)

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play now.

You have to rebuild civilization after apocalyptic rains brought it all down in this dark fantasy city builder. But instead of focusing on helping a single city or community, in this game, you must build a network of interconnected settlements made of different races to prosper. You’ll need to figure out how to make the humans, beavers, harpies, lizards and foxes coexist, or they will all perish.

Little Nightmares 2

Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play on July 1.

«Charming» and «horror» are not usually paired together to describe anything, but those two words work nicely to talk about Little Nightmares. You play as a little boy named Mono who finds a girl locked in a basement. The two of you will work together to open trapdoors, climb huge furniture and survive the terrors of the Pale City.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play on July 1.

This one is returning to Game Pass a few months after Microsoft removed it from the service. This is the second entry in the Survival trilogy of the popular franchise, and it follows Lara Croft as she searches for the legendary city of Kitezh. You’ll use stealth and your wits to traverse environments without being noticed by enemies on Croft’s first tomb raiding expedition.

Games that left Game Pass

While Microsoft is set to add those games to Game Pass soon, the company removed six others from the service. So you will have to buy these games separately now if you need to finish your campaign or any sidequests.

For more on Xbox, discover other games available on Game Pass now, read our hands-on review of the gaming service and learn which Game Pass plan is right for you. You can also check out what to know about upcoming Xbox game price hikes.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, April 7

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 7.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Informative commercial, for short
Answer: PSA

4A clue: Something you trace to draw a Thanksgiving turkey
Answer: HAND

5A clue: ___ Johnson, former Prime Minister of the U.K.
Answer: BORIS

6A clue: Opposite of include
Answer: OMIT

7A clue: Crosses (out)
Answer: XES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: City with the Notre-Dame Cathedral
Answer: PARIS

2D clue: Bad mood
Answer: SNIT

3D clue: About eight minutes of the average half-hour sitcom
Answer: ADS

4D clue: Remote worker’s office, perhaps
Answer: HOME

5D clue: Word that can follow each group of circled letters (and hints at its shape)
Answer: BOX

Technologies

NASA’s Artemis II Breaks Record With Trip Around The Moon

Technologies

In Honor of the Artemis II Mission, Explore the Moon in Fortnite Now

You might not be able to see the moon the way the Artemis II team is, but there’s an educational Fortnite simulation that will get you onto the celestial body’s surface.

You may not be able to explore the vast majesty of space in the same way that the four-person crew of the Artemis II is, but you can still get an up-close-and-personal view of the moon… in Fortnite, at least.

While you may not be able to slingshot around Earth’s own lunar body, space enthusiasts can see a little bit of what the Artemis II crew is seeing by spending time on the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map right now. The map is a creative collaboration between Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, and the European Space Agency. Lunar Horizons was released in 2024 after extensive testing and play from ESA trainee astronauts.

If you’re looking to learn more about our own orbiting body, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of the surface of the moon’s South Pole.

It blends game mechanics with learning, as players get to build up their own sterile lunar habitat bases, interact with ESA astronauts and roll around with robotic rovers as they discover informative plaques that contain information about the moon and international space agencies. There are still dangers to navigate, too — a solar storm may strike when you least expect it.

If you’re interested in exploring the moon, we’ve got all the information you need to join in on the Fortnite fun below. And if you’re looking for a more serious livestream during this momentous human achievement, tune into NASA’s feed here.

How to join the Moon Fortnite island while you follow the Artemis II mission

The Lunar Horizons Fortnite map is a great educational simulation that shares details about ESA’s work and catalogs information about humanity’s lunar research.

These three simple steps will get you up and running (or more accurately, taking slow leaps and bounds) on the surface of the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map:

Download Fortnite

If you haven’t played Fortnite before, but you want to check out this limited-time event, you’ll have to download the game. If you’re on PC, you can download Fortnite for free from the Epic Games Store. Console players can navigate the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or Nintendo eShop in order to download Fortnite on their devices.

Navigate the in-game menus until you reach the Search button

Once you’re in the game, scroll down past the different official Fortnite game modes and the Discover tab until you find the Search button.

Input the Lunar Horizons island code

In the search bar, you can input a map’s name or its distinct search code in order to find it in the map directory. You can search for the Lunar Horizons map or input the code 3207-0960-6428 to explore this map in time.

Correction, 3:35 p.m. PT: This story initially was in error about the features available in the Lunar Horizons map. There is no Artemis II-specific mission in Fortnite. Rather, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of part of the moon’s surface.