PC Gamer's New Issue Puts Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred Front and Center

Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred is PC Gamer’s new cover story, and the magazine is on sale now with world-exclusive access to Blizzard’s latest expansion. Tyler Colp’s feature follows PC Gamer’s trip to Blizzard’s HQ, where the team played the expansion for multiple hours and interviewed many of the key developers behind it. That matters because this isn’t a teaser trailer or a press-release recap; it’s the kind of early, hands-on coverage that tells players what the expansion actually feels like before the wider conversation starts.

PC Gamer says the cover story stays exclusive until May 27th, 2026, and the issue also includes a secondary feature on PC gaming’s best RPGs. Readers who care about Diablo 4 should pay attention here, because the magazine’s access goes beyond surface-level hype. It gets into the new Paladin class, the new Warlock class, and Mephisto, the Prime Evil of Hatred rising to bring doom to Sanctuary, which gives players a clearer sense of how Blizzard plans to push the game forward.

Cover feature: Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred

PC Gamer describes Blizzard’s Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred as the climactic new expansion to Blizzard’s ARPG, and the magazine’s reporting leans on world-exclusive access. Tyler Colp travelled to Blizzard’s HQ, spent multiple hours with the game, and spoke with many of the key devs who worked on it. That combination should matter to players because it usually means more concrete detail and fewer marketing slogans, which is exactly what a big expansion needs.

The cover story also puts Mephisto front and center. PC Gamer identifies him as the Prime Evil of Hatred, rising to bring doom to Sanctuary, and frames the expansion as a challenge for players rather than a victory lap. New Paladin and Warlock classes also feature in the coverage, which suggests Blizzard wants Lord of Hatred to change how people approach builds, party roles, and class identity rather than just add another map and call it a day.

PC gaming's best RPGs

The issue’s secondary feature asks a familiar but still useful question: what are the 14 best RPGs to play on PC today in 2026? PC Gamer says its team picked the list, and the examples it names range from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Disco Elysium to Path of Exile 2. That mix matters because it gives readers both classics and newer picks, which makes the feature more practical than a nostalgia parade.

PC Gamer also frames the feature as proof that PC remains the true home of the RPG genre. That’s an argument the magazine clearly wants to make with confidence, and the named games back it up with a spread of styles and eras. Players looking for a new long-form RPG, or a reason to revisit an old favorite, should find something useful there rather than another vague “best of” list.

Additional content in this month's issue

Beyond Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred and the RPG feature, the issue packs in a lot of other material. PC Gamer says it has Directive 8020 previewed, Crimson Desert reviewed, Deus Ex: Invisible War reinstalled, and compact keyboards tested. It also includes regular columns on the FPS and RPG genre’s latest developments, plus the return of the magazine’s Face Off column, where two editors debate a topic in a fiery back-and-forth.

Directive 8020 gets the most detailed preview treatment. PC Gamer calls it a narrative action-adventure game and a space-based survival horror experience, then says the team played it for multiple hours and interviewed key developers. The magazine also highlights its time-rewind mechanic, which should matter to players because that kind of system can turn a tense survival game into something far more tactical, where one mistake doesn’t always have to stick.

Crimson Desert, meanwhile, gets an official PC Gamer verdict, and the magazine says its reviewer spent more than 100 hours in the game’s fantasy world. PC Gamer praises the systems-rich gameplay mechanics but says the review also finds problems with the game’s narrative. That split is useful for readers, because it suggests a game with real mechanical ambition that still stumbles where story and structure should hold everything together.

• Directive 8020 previewed
• Crimson Desert reviewed
• Deus Ex: Invisible War reinstalled
• compact keyboards tested
• regular columns on the FPS and RPG genre's latest developments
• the return of PC Gamer magazine's Face Off column
• Control Resonant
• Ashes of the Singularity 2
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer
• Pragmata
• Slay the Spire 2
• Masters of Albion
• Xenonauts 2

What This Means for Players

This is a smart issue for PC Gamer to lead with, because Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred is the sort of expansion that lives or dies on details. A new class lineup, Mephisto’s return as the Prime Evil of Hatred, and hands-on reporting from Blizzard’s HQ all suggest a meaningful push rather than a minor content drop. For players already invested in Diablo 4, that makes this cover story worth reading on its own.

PC Gamer’s wider package helps too. The RPG feature gives readers a clear list of 14 games, the preview section adds several upcoming projects, and the review slate covers a wide spread of genres and tastes. Even the magazine’s Reinstall and Mod Spotlight pieces have a point here: they show PC Gamer still knows how to mix new releases with older games that deserve another look, which is exactly what a good magazine issue should do.

One note stands out for anyone who follows the magazine closely: this month also introduces a new opinion section, with spicier takes from PC Gamer’s team, alongside the regular genre columns and the revived Face Off format. That should give the issue a bit more personality, which magazines need now more than ever. If you want the next update, the obvious place to watch is PC Gamer itself, since the Diablo 4 cover story remains exclusive until May 27th, 2026.