Technologies
Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Can Play Assassin’s Creed Mirage Now
Microsoft also brought on a few more games to Game Pass Standard.

The Assassin’s Creed franchise is one of the biggest series in gaming today. Ubisoft, the publisher of the series, said in 2023 that it has sold more than 155 million copies of Assassin’s Creed games, making it one of the bestselling franchises in history. And Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play one of the most recent entries in the series, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, right now.
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, including early access to Grounded 2.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play now.
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 known as the Hidden Ones. Through this organization, you’ll become a deadly master assassin and change the course of the world.
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 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.
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.
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.
Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play MechWarrior 5: Clans in November, and Game Pass Standard subscribers can now play it as well. Step into a towering mech and battle your way across the galaxy in this 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. But this is no run-and-gun game. 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.
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 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 now.
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. So you can use knights, warlocks, sentient mushrooms and more in major 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
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Aug. 8
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 8
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 might make you hungry. I think I need to put a summer barbecue on my calendar now. The puzzle wasn’t terribly tough, but I did mess up on 8-Across for a while, which took me some time to sort out. It was kind of fun that the first three across clues all helped build a summer classic meal. Need help with the clues and answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in The Times’ games collection. 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: Piece of bread atop 4-Across
Answer: BUN
4A clue: Yellow square atop 7-Across
Answer: CHEESE
7A clue: Offering at a summer cookout
Answer: BURGER
8A clue: Envelop and obscure
Answer: SHROUD
9A clue: Covers a tree in bathroom rolls, in a classic prank
Answer: TPS
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Brought about
Answer: BEGOT
2D clue: Fully deplete
Answer: USEUP
3D clue: Jocks’ counterparts, stereotypically
Answer: NERDS
4D clue: «Survivor» network
Answer: CBS
5D clue: «What’d you say?»
Answer: HUH
6D clue: Make a mistake
Answer: ERR
Technologies
The Tesla Cybertruck May Have Found Its True Calling: Target Practice
The US Air Force plans to launch missiles at the controversial truck. Can we watch?
Technologies
Out of Nowhere: UFO 50 Hits Switch 2 After Indie World Reveal
No release date, no buildup, just a straight-up launch on the Switch.
Nintendo held an Indie World Showcase on Thursday to spotlight some of the indie games coming to the Switch platform. One of the surprise indie hits from last year is making the jump from PC to the Switch 2, and it’s available right now.
UFO 50, one of CNET’s best games of 2024, was the surprise from Nintendo’s Indie World Showcase Thursday, and had the additional surprise of launching after the event. It’s available to play on the Switch or the Switch 2 and costs $25.
From Mossmouth, UFO 50 is a unique indie title as it consists of 50 games done in a retro 8-bit style. These games come in a variety of genres, from platformers to shooters to RPGs. It’s a wide variety of games made by different independent developers.
While the collection of games in UFO 50 looks like something released on the NES back in the ’80s, the games have a modern feel. Some games are intended to be played solo, while others are meant to be played with others. The selection does feel random, but they’re connected by the story of a fictional game studio, UFOSoft, that created these 50 games that it never released.
Along with UFO 50, more than a dozen indie games were revealed during the showcase, including:
- Is This Seat Taken?
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Content Warning
- Ball X Pit
- Ultimate Sheep Raccoon
- Glaciered
- Winter Burrow
- Undusted: Letters from the Past
- Tiny Bookshop
- Caves of Qud
- Strange Antiquities
- Opus: Prism Peak
- Go-Go Town!
- Mina the Hollower
- Well Dweller
- Neverway
- Herdling
Some games are set to come out in the coming weeks, while others will arrive in 2026.
You can buy UFO 50 for the Switch or the Switch 2 via My Nintendo Store online or the Nintendo eShop on the consoles for $25. Those who want a physical copy of the game can preorder one from Fangamer for $35.
-
Technologies3 года ago
Tech Companies Need to Be Held Accountable for Security, Experts Say
-
Technologies2 года ago
Best Handheld Game Console in 2023
-
Technologies2 года ago
Tighten Up Your VR Game With the Best Head Straps for Quest 2
-
Technologies4 года ago
Verum, Wickr and Threema: next generation secured messengers
-
Technologies4 года ago
Google to require vaccinations as Silicon Valley rethinks return-to-office policies
-
Technologies4 года ago
Black Friday 2021: The best deals on TVs, headphones, kitchenware, and more
-
Technologies4 года ago
Olivia Harlan Dekker for Verum Messenger
-
Technologies4 года ago
iPhone 13 event: How to watch Apple’s big announcement tomorrow