Technologies

Xbox Game Pass Is Looking Like a Great Deal for Fall With These Games

Game Pass Core subscribers also get access to a few more games, including Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

The monumental Call of Duty franchise has published a new game every year for over 20 years, and this year is no different with the upcoming release of Black Ops 7. And Xbox Game Pass subscribers can play the Black Ops 7 early access open beta starting on Oct. 2 at no additional cost.

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 an extensive library of games, with new ones, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, added monthly, plus other benefits such as online multiplayer and deals on non-Game Pass titles.

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Here are the games Game Pass subscribers can play soon. You can also check out the games Microsoft added to the service in early September, including Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Xbox Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

This rebooted first-person shooter comes to Game Pass Standard subscribers more than a year after Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play it. You can continue the story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as you and a team of special forces members try to track down an ultranationalist terrorist. You can also take on hordes of the undead in the zombies gameplay mode, or challenge your friends in multiplayer mode. With the Carry Forward feature, you can transfer much of your content and weapons progressions from Modern Warfare 2 to this game.

For the King 2

Xbox Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

Get ready for this turn-based roguelite tabletop RPG — try to say that five times fast. You and up to three others will work to overthrow the tyrannical Queen Rosomon and bring an end to her oppressive reign. You’ll encounter enemies and friends in lush forests, lava-filled wastelands and Merling-filled tropical seas.

Overthrown (Game preview)

Xbox Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

Build and manage your kingdom as a monarch with a magical crown in this city-builder game. Be prepared to defend your home at a moment’s notice. Farm the land, build structures needed to survive and protect your citizens from mutants and bandits to keep your people happy.

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play this game in January, and Game Pass Standard subscribers can get in on the fun, too.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

If you played Vampire Survivors, you should give this game a try. It’s another auto-shooter game where your character automatically shoots at enemies, and you have to avoid attacks while also mining minerals from the alien world Planet Hoxxes. And really, you play a dwarf miner in space, need I say more?

Frostpunk 2

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play starting on Sept. 18.

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play this game on PC in 2024, and now Microsoft is bringing this game to console and Xbox Cloud Gaming (beta).

This city-building survival game asks you to make the tough decisions needed to ensure your community survives in an arctic apocalypse. Set 30 years after the events of the award-winning Frostpunk, you play as the Steward, who takes control of the city after the Captain — the original game’s player character — dies. The city is struggling with overpopulation plus food and coal shortages, among other issues. It’s up to you to build shelter and provide enough food for everyone while dealing with the factions vying for power.

Wobbly Life

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 18.

Get ready to explore this silly, vibrant, open-world physics sandbox game with your friends or on your own. The world is filled with minigames, missions, secrets, collectibles and tons of clothing options to find and unlock. Plus, there are almost one hundred vehicles you can use as part of jobs, or that you can just crash for the fun of it. It’s up to you.

Hades

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 19.

This is one of my all-time favorite games. If I were stuck on an island and could only play five games, Hades would be one of them. It’s an engaging roguelike with tons of different ways to overcome your enemies, but the real star of the game is the touching story about relationships and forgiveness. There’s a reason it made history as the first (and so far only) game to win a Hugo Award — an accolade usually given to science fiction and fantasy literary works, but that created a special category for video games in 2021.

Endless Legend 2 (Game preview)

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Sept. 22.

Lead your faction to build a great empire that can crush your enemies in this fantasy strategy game. You can play as warriors descended from the stars, cursed knights or hive-minded beasts, but know that each faction has its strengths, weaknesses and unique philosophies that can influence the rest of the game. And fending off enemies is just one challenge in this game. You’ll have to adapt to the changing environment as well. Will you expand as the tides reveal new treasures, or focus on improving your defenses?

Sworn

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Sept. 23.

Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable have been corrupted in this roguelike game, and it’s up to you to bring them down. This game supports up to four-player co-op action, and players’ strengths can be combined in surprising ways to become worthy knights.

Peppa Pig: World Adventures

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 25.

Make a pizza in Italy, climb the Eiffel Tower and explore more places with your friends and family in this Peppa Pig game. You can meet new characters, build your perfect house and go on adventures across the world with Peppa and others.

Visions of Mana

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 25.

Square Enix’s latest game in the Mana series follows Val and his childhood friend Hinna as they go on a journey to the legendary Mana Tree. You’ll encounter adorable yet ferocious creatures, use the powers of Elementals in battles and explore a vast semi-open world on your adventure.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 30.

Lara Croft is back in this action-adventure game as she attempts to find the Mirror of Smoke. Along the way, she encounters a Mayan tribesman named Totec who has unique weapons and skills to help Lara on her quest. This game has the classic Tomb Raider gameplay elements like exploration, platforming and puzzle solving.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Early Access Open Beta

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play between Oct. 2 and 7.

Fight it out in new 6v6 multiplayer maps, master an arsenal of new weapons and experience the next Call of Duty game before everyone else in the open beta of Black Ops 7. Early access to the beta launches at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Oct. 2 and will last 72 hours. Then, the open beta launches at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Oct. 5 before concluding on Oct. 8.

Sopa – Tale of the Stolen Potato

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Oct. 7.

Miho goes to the pantry to grab a potato for his grandmother’s soup when he lands in a fantastical land. Now he has to find his way back home by following in the footsteps of a mysterious traveler from long ago. You’ll meet quirky characters, gather exotic ingredients and take in vibrant environments in this world of magical realism inspired by Latin America.

More games on Game Pass Core

Xbox Game Pass Core is the cheapest subscription tier ($10 a month) and gives people access to a handful of games. Microsoft occasionally adds new games to this tier, and on Oct. 1, the company is bringing these games to the service.

Games leaving Game Pass on Sept. 30

While Microsoft is adding those games to Xbox Game Pass, the company is also removing a few games from the service on Sept. 30. You’ll have to buy these games separately after that date.

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

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
WATCH: Alphabet briefly tops Nvidia after report of $200 billion Anthropic cloud deal

Technologies

Waymo recalls 3,800 robotaxis after glitch allowed some vehicles to ‘drive into standing water’

Waymo issued a voluntary recall of about 3,800 of its robotaxis to fix software issues that could allow them to drive into flooded roadways.

Waymo is recalling about 3,800 robotaxis in the U.S. to fix software issues that could allow them to “drive onto a flooded roadway,” according to a letter on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.
The voluntary recall is for Waymo vehicles that use the company’s fifth and sixth generation automated driving systems (or ADS), the U.S. auto safety regulator said in the letter posted Tuesday.
Waymo autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, were seen on camera driving onto a flooded street and stalling, requiring other drivers to navigate around them. It’s the latest example of a safety-related issue for the Alphabet-owned AV unit that’s rapidly bolstering its fleet of vehicles and entering new U.S. markets.
Waymo has drawn criticism for its vehicles failing to yield to school buses in Austin, and for the performance of its vehicles during widespread power outages in San Francisco in December, when robotaxis halted in traffic, causing gridlock.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday that it’s “identified an area of improvement regarding untraversable flooded lanes specific to higher-speed roadways,” and opted to file a “voluntary software recall” with the NHTSA.
“Waymo provides over half a million trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments across the U.S., and safety is our primary priority,” the company said.
Waymo added that it’s working on “additional software safeguards” and has put “mitigations” in place, limiting where its robotaxis operate during extreme weather, so that they avoid “areas where flash flooding might occur” in periods of intense rain.
WATCH: Waymo launches new autonomous system in Chinese-made vehicle

Technologies

Qualcomm tumbles 13% as semiconductor stocks retreat from historic AI-fueled surge

Semiconductor equities reversed sharply after a broad AI-driven advance, with Qualcomm suffering its worst day since 2020 amid inflation concerns and rising oil prices.

Semiconductor stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, reversing course after an extensive rally that had expanded the artificial intelligence investment theme well past Nvidia and driven the industry to unprecedented levels.

Qualcomm plunged 13% and was on track for its steepest single-day decline since 2020. Intel shed 8%, while On Semiconductor and Skyworks Solutions each lost more than 6%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF, which benchmarks the overall sector, fell 5%.

The sell-off came after a key gauge of consumer prices came in above forecasts, and as conflict in Iran pushed crude oil higher—prompting investors to shift away from riskier assets.

The preceding advance had widened the AI opportunity set beyond longtime industry leader Nvidia, which for much of the past several years had largely carried the market to new peaks on its own.

Explosive appetite for central processing units, along with the graphics processing units that power large language models, has sent chipmakers to all-time highs.

Market participants are wagering that the shift from AI model training to autonomous agents will lift demand for additional AI hardware. Among the beneficiaries are memory chip producers, which are raising prices as supply remains tight.

Micron Technology slid 6%, and Sandisk cratered 8%. Sandisk’s stock has surged more than six times over since January.