Technologies

Play Assassin’s Creed, Aliens and More on Xbox Game Pass Soon

Microsoft is bringing a few more games to Game Pass Standard, too.

The Assassin’s Creed franchise is one of the biggest series in gaming today. Ubisoft, the series’ publisher, said in 2023 that it has sold over 155 million copies of Assassin’s Creed games, making it one of the bestselling franchises in history. Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play one of the most recent entries in the series, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, on Aug. 7.

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 ones, like Doom: The Dark Ages, added monthly, plus other benefits such as online multiplayer and deals on non-Game Pass titles.

Here are the games Microsoft is bringing to Game Pass in August. You can also check out other games the company added to the service in July, like early access to Grounded 2.

Rain World

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

In this survival platformer, you’re a slugcat — both adorable and dangerous — in a broken ecosystem that’s filled with overgrown plants and industrial waste. You have to survive in this world with nothing but your wits and trusty spear. But there are larger enemies out there who think you look like their next meal, so watch your step.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

New to Game Pass Standard on Aug. 6.

Game Pass Standard subscribers can now join the fun of Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, a few months after Microsoft brought this title to Game Pass Ultimate. This sequel to one of 2022’s most popular RPGs launches on Game Pass on Day 1. You play as a sleeper, an emulated human mind in an artificial body, as you try to outrun the corporation that made you and the gang that wants to control you. You’ll commandeer a ship, recruit a crew and take on contracts as you try to build a better future for yourself in this dice-driven sci-fi game.

Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders

New to Game Pass Standard on Aug. 6.

Get ready to fall down over and over again as you learn to master the snowy terrain in Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders. This is the sequel to Lonely Mountains: Downhill, but up to eight players can join cross-platform multiplayer matches, so you and your block-headed friends can enjoy the fresh powder together. That doesn’t sound lonely at all.

MechWarrior 5: Clans

New to Game Pass Standard on Aug. 6.

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play MechWarrior 5: Clans in November, and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play it soon, too. Step into a towering mech and fight your way across the galaxy in the latest installment of the MechWarrior series. Your territory is being invaded in this game, and you lead a squad of five other mech pilots to turn the invasion back. This isn’t a run-and-gun game, though. You’ll have to coordinate your moves with other units to create the perfect opportunities to attack.

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap

New to Game Pass Standard on Aug. 6.

The orcs are back in the latest entry in this tower-defense series, but your goal remains the same: kill every last one of them. Each hero in this game has their own unique play style, so pick the one that’s most fun for you. And team up with others in four-player co-op to obliterate the chaotic, cartoonish hordes.

Microsoft brought this title to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in February, and Game Pass Standard subscribers can get in on all the orc-smashing fun soon, too.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play on Aug. 7.

Travel back in time to 9th-century Baghdad in this 2023 installment of the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise. You play as Basim, a cunning street thief who joins an ancient organization called the Hidden Ones. Through this organization, you’ll become a deadly master assassin and change the course of the world.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite

Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play on Aug. 12.

Microsoft is bringing this game back to Game Pass after removing it from the service in December 2022. In this survival shooter, you join an elite team of hardened marines as they fight through hordes of xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. You can customize your character and gear as you take on the ever-evolving threat and try to stop it from spreading.

9 Kings (game preview)

Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play on Aug. 14.

This game takes kingdom builders, deck builders and roguelikes and smashes them together to make something new. You’ll build your kingdom from a humble village to a huge citadel, but you’ll also have to defend your realm from other rulers. You can use knights, warlocks, sentient mushrooms and more in huge battles to fend off others. And you can loot your enemy’s deck to grow your empire and become the King of Kings.

These games are leaving Game Pass on Aug. 15

While Microsoft is adding those games to Game Pass soon, the company is also removing a few others from the service on Aug. 15. So you still have some time to finish any campaigns or sidequests before you have to buy these games separately.

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

Wisconsin Reverses Decision to Ban VPNs in Age-Verification Bill

The law would have required websites to block VPN users from accessing «harmful material.»

Following a wave of criticism, Wisconsin lawmakers have decided not to include a ban on VPN services in their age-verification law, making its way through the state legislature.

Wisconsin Senate Bill 130 (and its sister Assembly Bill 105), introduced in March 2025, aims to prohibit businesses from «publishing or distributing material harmful to minors» unless there is a reasonable «method to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the website.»

One provision would have required businesses to bar people from accessing their sites via «a virtual private network system or virtual private network provider.»

A VPN lets you access the internet via an encrypted connection, enabling you to bypass firewalls and unblock geographically restricted websites and streaming content. While using a VPN, your IP address and physical location are masked, and your internet service provider doesn’t know which websites you visit.

Wisconsin state Sen. Van Wanggaard moved to delete that provision in the legislation, thereby releasing VPNs from any liability. The state assembly agreed to remove the VPN ban, and the bill now awaits Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s signature.

Rindala Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the digital freedom nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, says Wisconsin’s U-turn is «great news.»

«This shows the power of public advocacy and pushback,» Alajaji says. «Politicians heard the VPN users who shared their worries and fears, and the experts who explained how the ban wouldn’t work.»

Earlier this week, the EFF had written an open letter arguing that the draft laws did not «meaningfully advance the goal of keeping young people safe online.» The EFF said that blocking VPNs would harm many groups that rely on that software for private and secure internet connections, including «businesses, universities, journalists and ordinary citizens,» and that «many law enforcement professionals, veterans and small business owners rely on VPNs to safely use the internet.»

VPNs can also help you get around age-verification laws — for instance, if you live in a state or country that requires age verification to access certain material, you can use a VPN to make it look like you live elsewhere, thereby gaining access to that material. As age-restriction laws increase around the US, VPN use has also increased. However, many people are using free VPNs, which are fertile ground for cybercriminals.

In its letter to Wisconsin lawmakers prior to the reversal, the EFF argued that it is «unworkable» to require websites to block VPN users from accessing adult content. The EFF said such sites cannot «reliably determine» where a VPN customer lives — it could be any US state or even other countries.

«As a result, covered websites would face an impossible choice: either block all VPN users everywhere, disrupting access for millions of people nationwide, or cease offering services in Wisconsin altogether,» the EFF wrote.

Wisconsin is not the only state to consider VPN bans to prevent access to adult material. Last year, Michigan introduced the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act, which would ban all use of VPNs. If passed, it would force ISPs to detect and block VPN usage and also ban the sale of VPNs in the state. Fines could reach $500,000.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 21 #720

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 21, No. 720.

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

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be easy for those who pursue a certain hobby. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: The beer necessities.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Cheers!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

MALE, TREAT, STEAM, TEAM, MOVE, LOVE, ROVE, ROVER, SPEAR, PEAR

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

HOPS, WATER, MALT, YEAST, BARLEY, SUGAR, WHEAT, FLAVOR

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is HOMEBREW. To find it, start with the H that’s three letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 21, #986

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 21 #986.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle features another of those purple categories where you need to look for hidden words inside of other words. It can be a real stumper. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rookies don’t have this.

Green group hint: Call the roll.

Blue group hint: How’d you do today?

Purple group hint: Vroom-vroom, but with a twist.