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This month PC Gamer gets world-exclusive access to Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred, the climactic new expansion to Blizzard's hellishly good ARPG. For this elite, insider-access feature, PC Gamer travelled to Blizzard's HQ to play Lord of Hatred for multiple hours and interview many of the key devs who have worked to bring the expansion to life. And, with Mephisto, the Prime Evil of Hatred rising to bring doom to Sanctuary, PC gamers are in for a wickedly good challenge. However, with new Paladin and Warlock classes at their disposal, though, maybe it is Mephisto who should be worried!
This issue also boasts a top-draw previews section loaded with really exciting new games, too. And that starts with a world-exclusive preview of the thrilling new narrative action-adventure game, Directive 8020. Not only does PC Gamer get exclusive access to the game, playing it for multiple hours ahead of anyone else, but we also interview its key developers to discover why this space-based survival horror experience is not to be missed. In addition, we also preview Control Resonant, Ashes of the Singularity 2, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Pragmata, Slay the Spire 2, Masters of Albion, and Xenonauts 2.
Then, in terms of reviews, we deliver definitive judgments on Crimson Desert, Death Stranding 2, World of Warcraft: Midnight, Marathon, Screamer, Banquet for Fools, and Aether & Iron, among other games.
Cover feature: Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred
Written by: Tyler Colp
Magazine exclusive: Until May 27th, 2026
What's in this month's cover story: For this month's special lead feature, we send Tyler Colp on a holy mission to Blizzard's HQ to discover everything there is to know about Diablo 4's climatic new Lord of Hatred expansion. With unprecedented access to the game and its key developers, we get the inside scoop on why Lord of Hatred cements Blizzard as the king of the ARPG, as well as why this expansion is totally unmissable.
Secondary feature
Additional content in this month's issue
Our lead preview this issue is full of cosmic creeps, with an exclusive all-access pass to Supermassive Games letting us get hands-on with its unsettling new space-based survival horror adventure, Directive 8020. We also speak to key devs on the project, and learn how the team has implemented the game's interesting time-rewind mechanic.
This issue, the absolutely monstrous new action-adventure game Crimson Desert gets an official PC Gamer verdict. Our reviewer, who spent more than 100 hours in the game's fantasy world, deep dives into the systems-rich gameplay mechanics, explaining how this game does something that few others manage, but also finds problems with the game's narrative, among other things.
The 2003 time-bending action-adventure, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, remains a series high point, with subsequent games failing to live up to its greatness. As such, this month we detail the key mods and game tweaks that will help you replay this classic in 2026 with better graphics, widescreen support, and many neat additions.
Deus Ex: Invisible War was lambasted by many critics on release, with it accused of failing to live up to the groundbreaking original immersive sim. However, was it massively misunderstood back then? PC Gamer's Jody Macgregor reinstalls the game and finds a game that, in many ways, was well ahead of its time.
In a brand new multi-part diary, PC Gamer's Matthew Elliott finds out what happens when you try to play this classic grand strategy game as an undead faction that, counterintuitively, you might think, protects humans at all costs, doesn't ally with other undead factions, and remains firmly in their home territory. Madcap shenanigans ensue!
We have a great special report this month on the long-running Japanese MMO, Master of Epic which, rather remarkably, is still running 21 years after its initial release. And it's not just surviving, but thriving, with multiple updates hitting the game this year already. If you fancy some fantasy fun with an eastern twist, this is well worth checking out.
Looking for a brand new keyboard? And, potentially, a new keyboard that has a neatly compact footprint on your desk? Well, this month's group test is for you, with the PC Gamer hardware team testing and rating six of the greatest compact keyboards on the market today, from the Razer BlackWidow V4 Low-Profile Tenkeyless Hyperspeed, to the Wooting 60HE V2.
Now Playing: The PC Gamer team writes about their adventures in Romeo is a Dead Man, Baldur's Gate 3, Halo 2, and Fields of Mistria.
They're Back: Matthew Elliott re-reviews RoboCop: Rogue City, This is the Police, and Murdered: Soul Suspect.
Making of: Rick Lane speaks to Crowbar Collective to get the inside scoop deep dive on how the studio went about rebuilding Half-Life's alien world of Xen.
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