Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is finally here and in addition to the launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, and Battle.net, the game is also live on Xbox Game Pass. This is a monumental shift in how one of Activision’s biggest game franchises is made available to players. The announcement about the game coming to Xbox Game Pass was made earlier this year, but the reality of this distribution of the game is likely just now setting in for some.

Call of Duty is almost always the best-selling game of the year. If it isn’t number one, it’s typically in the top five. That won’t necessarily change with Black Ops 6, but the Game Pass availability will no doubt have some players choosing to play it for free as opposed to paying for it. The reason this is such a big deal is because it’s just never been done before.

It’s not the first Call of Duty to make its way to Game Pass. Warzone, Modern Warfare II, and Modern Warfare III were all dropped into the Game Pass library back in July. With Black Ops 6 though, it’s the first Call of Duty title to go live on the service on launch day. That’s the factor that makes this such a big deal. Day one availability on Microsoft’s gaming subscription service for one of the biggest franchises in gaming.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 live on Xbox Game Pass, the game should see a surge of players

From Microsoft and Activision’s financial standpoints, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the Game Pass availability is going to hurt the bottom line.

From a player standpoint, this is perhaps the best thing to happen to Call of Duty in a while. It means the game will now be available to more players than ever. There will be some overlap of players who would buy the game and play it regardless of whether or not it was on Microsoft’s subscription service. However, there are also some players who would certainly avoid the game if it meant having to pay for it.

Now, those players will be able to give the game a shot and see if they like it. This should translate to the number of players in Black Ops 6 growing beyond what we saw in past Call of Duty games. However, that also depends on how fun the game is over an extended period of time. The first few weeks and likely the first season will probably maintain a large number of players either way.

The game is new and people will still be having that honeymoon stage with it. As time goes on, some players will undoubtedly drop off. Either out of boredom or because of other more important commitments. But it seems highly likely that because the game can be played for free via Xbox Game Pass, more people will jump in to check things out than with Modern Warfare III, simply because of the fact that it’s rolled into a service that many people subscribe to.

You don’t need Game Pass Ultimate

While I personally think this is still the best value, you don’t need to have the Ultimate membership to play Black Ops 6. It’s available via PC Game Pass as well, which is less expensive. You can also play it for free on the Xbox Series X|S consoles if you have the Ultimate plan. You cannot, however, access the game for free if you have the Core or Standard plans on console. At least, not right away.

Microsoft doesn’t confirm when or if Black Ops 6 will eventually be accessible via those two plans, but it is possible that it will land on them eventually. Players should also not forget that if they bought the game on Steam or Battle.net, or play via PC Game Pass, it can be streamed through GeForce NOW.

The long-anticipated iPhone iOS 18.1 , bringing with it , but we are already on to the next new thing. The company is busy , which has already entered its beta stage and should be widely released in December. This next operating system will include daily Sudoku puzzles for Apple News+ subscribers, .

Users will be able to choose from three difficulty options each day, ranging from easy to challenging. There’s a scoreboard to track stats, which includes the total number of puzzles solved, speed metrics and more. This is the fourth puzzle game to be included with an Apple News+ subscription, joining Crossword, Crossword Mini, and Quartiles. The New York Times also offers a slew of games with a subscription, , so this is becoming an actual trend.

Sudoku will also be available for Apple News+ subscribers with the forthcoming launch of iPadOS 18.2, and rumors indicate a similar release for macOS Sequoia 15.2. Apple News+ costs $13 per month on its own but is , along with Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud storage.

Of course, number-based mobile games aren’t the only feature shipping with iOS 18.2. Apple Intelligence is getting an expansion, including the custom emoji maker Genmoji and ChatGPT/Siri integration. There’s also a child safety feature and report it to Apple.

Project Helping Hands is a new community-based initiative to help game industry job seekers who have been out of work or underemployed for more than a year.

Aiming to draw a spotlight for long-term job seekers in games, it’s a project led by Amir Satvat, the game job opening aggregator who has amassed a big following of 400,000 unique viewers on LinkedIn. (You can apply here).

“Our goal is to help long-term job seekers in games get the spotlight they deserve,” Satvat said in a LinkedIn post.

This effort could be a big deal for job seekers as Satvat has been able to help more than 2,800 people find jobs. Satvat is a “top voice” on LinkedIn for games and he has 101,000-plus followers. He has also amassed a lot of data about jobs in the game industry, which is regrettably not transparent about hirings and firings. More than 32,000 people have been laid off in games in the past three years.

If you’ve been unemployed or underemployed for 12 months or more and have been seeking roles in games as part of your job search, this program is for you. You don’t need to have been exclusively looking in games, but it does need to be at least part of your goal, Satvat said.

He said that three times a week, he will spotlight up to 15 individuals looking for new opportunities.

Applicants can fill out a form, and Satvat will randomly select participants to feature along with a short bio you provide.

How it works

On his LinkedIn profile, Satvat has begun listed the profile details of 15 people each week who have been looking for work for a year or more. The post includes the name, function, years of experience, location, and whether the person is open to remote work.

Satvat is accepting submissions through a Google form and each application must be complete. He will adjust the project as needed. Satvat started posting community member profiles on October 18 (here’s another one and another one).

The long-term unemployed?

It’s not clear how many people have been stuck looking for a job in games for more than a year. But Satvat’s data gives him insights on the issue of ageism in games.

He noted that for younger game job seekers — those with three or fewer years of work experience who have never worked in games — the chances of securing a role in the industry over 12 months are just 1% to 2%.

And, after two years of collecting data, Satvat said he knows that the odds of finding a role in games for those 50 and over are roughly the same.

While the overall likelihood of finding work in games over 12 months is around 7%, and this number rises to 20-25% for all who have previous experience in the industry, these statistics show a pronounced peak in opportunities for those in their late 20s and 30s, with meaningful decline by the time they reach their 40s, Satvat said.

“We need to be much more aware of how challenging the odds become for those in our industry as they age,” Satvat said. “If we feel empathy for younger applicants locked out of opportunities, I’m equally raising my hand in solidarity for those with the most experience – because, numerically, I now know that, at some point, they face the same struggle.”

This new service to help those who are out of work for a long time will likely help those who are also subjected to ageism.

The fediverse answer to TikTok is on its way. Signups opened this week for Loops, a short-form looping video app from the creator of Instagram alternative Pixelfed, reports TechCrunch.

Users who’ve signed up can post up to 60 seconds of video, according to details shared by developer Daniel Supernault on Mastodon. He added that using sounds and remixing others’ videos is coming, as are pinned profile videos, and that users will be able to “curate” their comment sections. Videos can be categorized, but hashtags and mentions aren’t yet supported.

Creating an account isn’t instantaneous as you’ll have to wait for a confirmation email, which could take time, according to Supernault. Its iOS app will be available initially in TestFlight, Apple’s program for testing unreleased apps that requires a free developer account. Loops will also have a “side-loadable” Android app, Supernault posted.

Loops will rely on human moderators, which Supernault put out a call for on Mastodon. Videos posted to the site will be moderated based on a trust score that every local user has, Supernault posted. Videos uploaded by people with low scores will be held for moderation before they go live, while those from “trusted users” will be posted right away.

Loops’ fediverse integration is in-progress but not live, and the platform hasn’t been open-sourced yet, according to a FAQ on the site. Users own their content, and Loops doesn’t sell or provide videos to third-party advertisers or train AI on them, the FAQ says. The site is instead relying on grants, sponsorships, and donations for funding. You can review the privacy policy here.

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

HP is strongly vouching for AI PCs and has unveiled two new laptops targeted at large enterprises, startups, and retail consumers. The newly launched laptops include the HP EliteBook Ultra and HP OmniBook X, being HP’s first Copilot plus PCs. 

Both laptops are designed and engineered around the Snapdragon X Elite processor and its Neural Processing Unit (NPU)6, which have the capability of 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS) that can run language models and generative AI locally on the device. 

Representatives at HP say that the innovations in their new offerings are designed to enhance work efficiency, boost security, and offer personalized experiences for hybrid work styles. 

“We are unveling our AI PCs in India with the HP EliteBook Ultra and HP OmniBook X. These AI PCs are designed to create more personalized and meaningful user experiences. By integrating advanced AI capabilities, we are making technology smarter, more intuitive, and more responsive to individual needs,” remarked Vineet Gehani, Senior Director Personal Systems, HP India. 

HP OmniBook X

The EliteBook Ultra has AI capabilities and has one of the thinnest designs in its class. This model also has enterprise-grade endpoint security to safeguard data, in order to safeguard against sophsiticated cyberattacks.  On the other hand, the HP OmniBook X is designed specifically for retail customers including creators and freelancers and has advanced AI features, which has the capability to improve video quality and collaboration experiences. It is very well suited for tasks such as video editing, graphic design, and remote meetings. 

Interestingly, the new HP AI laptops come with built in HP AI Companion, a personal AI-assistant for enhancing productivity and creativity. With this, the users will be able to experience a personalized approach using generative AI to analyze and assess personal files to get more refined, focus responses or outputs. These models also have Copilot+ which will help in creating a more personalised and powerful computing experience. 

Besides these the Poly Camera Pro in these laptops will enhance virtual interactions across all collaboration and streaming apps across multiple cameras. Poly Camera Pro uses the NPU to power AI enhancements like Spotlight, Background Blur and Replace, Auto Framing, and more, allowing the CPU to maintain performance more efficiently while preserving battery life. 

Both the HP EliteBook Ultra and HP OmniBook X weigh 1.3 kgs and offer up to 26 hours of battery life. The HP Elitebook Ultra is available in HP World Stores and HP Online stores at a starting price of Rs 1,69,934 in Atmospheric blue colour and the HP OmniBook X is available in HP World Stores and HP Online stores at a starting price of Rs. 1,39,999 in Meteor Silver colour.