Gears of War is one of the most iconic Xbox series, spawning sequels, spin-offs and books. I fell in love with the series almost 20 years ago when the original landed on the Xbox 360. Microsoft brought the remastered edition of the game, called Gears of War: Reloaded, to Xbox Game Pass and I can’t wait to play it.

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, Amazon Fire TV, smart TV 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.

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Here are the games Microsoft added to Game Pass recently. You can also check out other games the company added to the service recently, like Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

Gears of War: Reloaded

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

The Gears series is back with a new, remastered edition of the original iconic game. This game tells the story of Marcus Fenix and his thick-necked squad as they take on the alien locust hordes. It includes a bonus campaign act, every multiplayer map and mode, plus characters and cosmetics unlocked through progression. 

This game is also on PlayStation 5 and PC, and thanks to cross-play functionality, you can play with and against your friends on those platforms.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

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

Step into the enchanted world of Thedas, a land full of untamed wilderness, glittering cities and strife. A pair of corrupt ancient gods has broken out of their cosmic prison and is wreaking havoc across the globe. It’s up to you to gather a team and stop them, but that’s just the main quest. You can also embark on side quests and companion quests that shed light on who they are and how the world is changing around you. Veilguard changes the Dragon Age formula with a more action-oriented approach, although it retains familiar aspects like branching dialog choices and skill trees. So get ready to dive into a wild adventure, make friends and become a legend.

Herdling

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

Get ready for a grand alpine adventure as you shepherd some giant Calicorns — which look like Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender — up into a mountain pass. You’ll encounter eerie dangers, puzzles and more on your adventure. And before you ask, yes, you can pet these wonderful creatures.

Blacksmith Master (game preview)

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

Adventuring in a medieval world can be fun and challenging but it can also be difficult work. If you’d rather run and manage a shop in a medieval setting, give Blacksmith Master a try. You run your own forge and have to manage resource acquisition, production and sale of goods. You’ll build your own forge, craft everything from utensils to weapons and become one of the most skilled craftsmen in the kingdom — all without fighting dragons or other dangerous creatures.

Void/Breaker (PC)

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

You’re trapped by a ruthless AI in an endless loop where you’re forced to fight hostile enemies, die and then repeat. In this rogue-like game, each time you die, you’ll face new challenges. Fast gunplay, quick movements and all-out destruction are your friends in this adrenaline-filled adventure. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get out one day.

Goat Simulator Remastered

New for Game Pass Standard subscribers.

Chaos. That’s the best way to describe this game. You play as a goat and your mission is the total destruction of everything in sight. Can’t stand the look of that car? Run it off the road. Don’t like the town hall’s placement? Demolish it. Want that kid’s ice cream? Eat it. Do what you want in this sandbox-style game where anything is possible. 

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers got access to this game in November and Game Pass Standard subscribers can get in on the fun soon, too.

Persona 4 Golden

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

A string of serial murders set this game in motion, where you’ll travel between the real world and the world within TVs as you try and find out who — or what — is behind the murders. You’ll explore your town and carry on daily activities, as well as travel to the TV World to explore different dungeons and battle monsters in this RPG.

Games that left Game Pass

While Microsoft added those games to Game Pass, the company also removed five others from the service. So you’ll have to to buy these games separately now if you want to finish up your campaign or any side quests.

• Ben 10: Power Trip
• Borderlands 3
• Paw Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay
• Sea of Stars
• This War of Mine: Final Cut

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.

Apple released the fifth public beta of iOS 26 on Aug. 25, and the beta brings a new Liquid Glass design to the iPhones of developers and beta testers, alongside other updates such as call screening. And developers and beta testers with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone will see AI notification summaries for news and entertainment apps in the latest beta.

Apple disabled AI notification summaries for news and entertainment apps in January. That came a few weeks after the BBC pointed out in December that the feature twisted the media organization’s notifications and displayed inaccurate information. 

The latest beta brings those AI summaries back with a new warning.

Before you download the beta and check out these summaries, just know this beta is not the final version of iOS 26. That means, the update might be buggy for you, and your device’s battery life may be affected, so it’s best to keep those troubles off your primary device. If you want to try out the beta, I recommend downloading it on a secondary device.

It’s also possible that Apple could remove or further alter this feature before the final version of iOS 26 is released this fall — I’m guessing in a few weeks.

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iOS 26 beta warns about summary inaccuracies

When I updated to the latest iOS 26 beta, I was greeted by some splash screens which asked for various permissions. One splash screen was for the AI notification summaries. When you see this screen, you have two options: Choose Notifications to Summarize or Not Now. If you tap Not Now, the splash screen goes away. 

If you tap Choose Notifications to Summarize, you are taken to a new page where you’ll see three categories: News & Entertainment, Communication & Social and All Other Apps. Tapping one of these categories allows notification summaries for apps in that category. Beneath the News & Entertainment category, there’s a warning that gets outlined in red if you tap it.

«Summarization may change the meaning of the original headline,» the warning reads, adding, «Verify information.»

In the beta, there’s also a warning across the bottom of the screen that reads, «This is a beta feature. Summaries may contain errors.»

After tapping the categories you want, tap Summarize Selected Notifications across the bottom of your screen. If you selected all the categories, this button will read Summarize All Notifications.

And if you don’t want these summaries, you can tap Do Not Summarize Notifications. If you allow these summaries and don’t like them, you can easily turn them off. Here’s how.

How to turn off AI notification summaries

1. Tap Settings. 
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Tap Summarize Notifications.
4. Tap the Summarize Notifications toggle in the new menu.

You can also follow the above steps to turn AI notification summaries back on. You’ll have to select which categories you want these summaries for again, too. 

Don’t forget, this feature is still in beta so it could be buggy, and Apple could alter or remove it when iOS 26 is released to the general public this fall. There’s no definitive date for when Apple will release iOS 26. 

For more iOS news, here are my first impressions of the beta version of iOS 26, how to enable call screening in the beta and all the new features Apple said it will bring to your device later this year. You can get an early view of the upcoming iPhone features with our iOS 26 cheat sheet.