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

Nintendo’s Pokemon Legends: Z-A Is a Hit. Just Ask My Kid

Pokemon Legends: Z-A has sucked my family in, and I can’t get my Switch controller back from my son.

I’d love to tell you all about Pokemon Legends: Z-A, arriving this week, and what it’s been like to play on the Nintendo Switch 2. I can mostly do that — but for most of the past five days, it hasn’t really been me playing. What started as co-playing together quickly turned into my kid taking over completely as he got hooked. And honestly, I’d say that’s a good sign.

Nintendo makes a lot of Pokemon games, too many for me to keep track of. But Legends Z-A is the first that’s Switch 2-optimized, although you can play on original Switches, too. I can’t tell you what that’s like, though — my early review access limited me to playing Pokemon Legends: Z-A on the Switch 2 only at home. I was doubtful about how much a city-based game would truly feel like a must-have experience, but so far it’s already become one of my favorite Pokemon games ever.

I’ll let my son tell you. He’s gotten deep into the trading card game and has played most of the recent Pokemon titles over the past year, and he says this is his favorite so far. When I asked him why, he said it’s because the game completely rethinks how battles work. The quick, real-time system feels more immediate and far less sluggish than in past Pokemon games. Plus, he’s loving the story… and honestly, so am I.

A city full of surprises

My son loves the «peculiar» storyline, the fast-paced battles (which he now wants in every Pokemon game) and the constant sense of surprise while exploring Lumiose City.

All of Pokemon Legends: Z-A (at least from what I’ve seen in my 10-plus hours so far) takes place entirely within Lumiose City — a Paris-like metropolis where the CEO of a company called Quasartico Inc. is planning to rebuild everything into a new world where Pokemon and humans can better coexist. The setup reminded me of the Detective Pikachu movie during my demo a few weeks ago, and it turns out my instincts were right.

Pokemon roam in wild zones within the city, occasionally spilling into urban areas, while mysterious rogue «Mega Evolution» Pokemon have begun appearing and threatening the city’s calm. There’s clearly a deeper mystery at play, and while I’m still uncovering it, I won’t spoil anything here.

The game seems to mostly involve a journey to level up in rank from Z to A by battling various Pokemon trainers, but that’s not the whole story. There’s a group of friends you hang out with at a local hotel, along with research missions you have to carry out. Side quests are everywhere. The city, though it can feel a bit sparse at times, stretches all the way up to its rooftops, where all sorts of hidden spots are waiting to be discovered. It feels like a living maze, and one I’m still navigating.

And the city’s always changing, too. Wild zones keep multiplying, and from day to night the city’s dynamics shift. Battles take place at night, with trainers gathering in new pop-up spots each time. It’s not as lively as I’d hoped — this isn’t Grand Theft Pokemon — but the cozy, vibrant world still makes me daydream about what a real-life Universal Pokemon theme park could someday look like.

The Pokemon shine

I keep reminding myself to take extra time to discover and level up my Pokemon. At least that’s what my son’s telling me to do. He loves how many Pokemon can become Mega Evolved in this game, and how much fun the battle moves are to pull off. I’m happy he’s happy. I thought I’d get lost in the RPG aspects of the game, but I think the real-time Pokemon battles put me in a looser state of mind, more able to explore and not feel locked down into systems and rulesets. Swapping Pokemon battle moves and reassigning them to buttons is easy, too.

The stronger focus on trainer battles — and the sheer variety of Pokemon capable of mega evolving — gives the game more of that classic, Pokemon-centered energy than Pokemon Legends: Arceus ever did. I found myself more excited to see how different Pokemon looked and behaved than to uncover new realms to explore. After all, for all of Lumiose City’s secrets, you’re spending a lot more time roaming one massive location than in any other Pokemon game I can remember. Thankfully, the visual upgrades on the Switch 2 make those Pokemon look fantastic in battle.

I do want to spend more time in Lumiose City, though, and can’t help but wonder if this is a glimpse of how all Pokemon games will keep evolving. It’s hard to say, since Legends games like Z-A and Arceus have been more experimental than the rest of the series. But, like Arceus, Z-A is now one of my favorite Pokemon games on Switch. And on Switch 2, it plays smoother and feels better than any Pokemon game ever has before.

Technologies

iPhone 17 Preorders Spike and Overall Phone Sales Aren’t Slowing Down Despite Tariffs

Global smartphone shipments saw a notable increase in the third quarter of 2025. Plus, preorders for Apple’s new iPhone 17 beat out the iPhone 16.

Despite tariffs and market uncertainty, global smartphone shipments increased 2.6% in the third quarter of 2025, compared to the same time last year, according to the International Data Corporation. Additionally, preorders for the iPhone 17, which launched last month, outpaced last year’s iPhone 16.

These increased sales include premium phones like the latest iPhones and Samsung foldables, suggesting yet again that pricier phones still sell in periods of economic strain. It’s a remarkable achievement, says IDC senior research director Nabila Popal, citing shrewd financing options as the reason people keep buying these high-end phones, which cost anywhere from $800 to nearly $2,000.

«[Phone makers] have mastered the art of innovation not only in hardware and software to entice upgrades but also in removing purchase friction. They have flawlessly combined cutting-edge devices with innovative financing models and aggressive trade-in programs that make the upgrading decision a ‘no-brainer’ for consumers,» Popal said in an IDC press release.

Apple sold 58.6 million iPhones this quarter, an increase of 2.9% over the same period in 2024, with more preorders for the iPhone 17 series than its predecessor. But Samsung wasn’t far behind, with its Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 selling better than all of the company’s prior foldables. The company still reigns atop the phone market with 61.4 million phones sold, representing 19% of the market in the third quarter of this year — an increase of 6.3% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Apple lands slightly behind Samsung with 18.2% market share this quarter.

The other phone makers trailing Apple and Samsung are, in order: Xiaomi, with 13.5% of the market; Transsion, with 9%; and Vivo with 8.9%. The remaining companies in the phones industry, from Chinese stalwarts like Oppo and Honor to Motorola and Google, make up the remaining 31.4% of the market for the quarter. All told, 322.7 million phones were sold, up from 314.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, according to IDC.

IDC’s findings for the third quarter continue the small but steady growth of phone sales over the year, including a modest 1% increase in the preceding three months — which includes the April deadline when President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs. In the second quarter, IDC cited midrange devices like Samsung’s Galaxy A36 and other phones that started incorporating AI. But even persistent tariffs haven’t slowed down people’s appetites for pricier phones in the third quarter.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

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.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need 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.