Published Mar 15, 2026, 1:00 AM EDT
James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.
The Diablo franchise is still easily one of the most popular franchises in the history of the action role-playing dungeon crawler, and as the latest in a long line of success stories, Diablo IV is the one with the biggest and most dedicated community in 2026.
Blizzard Entertainment's spellbinding satanic effort has been through various guises since first launching in 2023, with the Vessel of Hatred expansion changing things significantly, and the Lord of Hatred expansion set to follow suit next month, in April 2026.
As such, it's a great time to get involved if you haven't already, and an even better one to return if you've lapsed, giving yourself plenty of time to get ready for the new expansion dropping. Happily, if you're an Xbox player, you don't even have to commit to purchasing the game for the time being, so you can see if you like it before parting with your hard-earned cash.
Diablo 4 Is Free To Try For A Few More Days
Over on the official Xbox website, you can find the breakdown for the latest set of Free Play Days, which is now well underway as we close out the weekend. As part of that, Diablo IV is available as an open trial for all Xbox players until March 18, and you don't even need the usual Game Pass subscription to get involved.
It's a pretty extensive look at what you'll be doing in the full game, if you do decide to commit to the purchase, as well. You can progress your character up to Level 25, working through the original (and very good) main campaign, whilst the Paladin class is also at your disposal, despite being added as part of the last expansion.
After the trial concludes, you can carry on playing either by paying for the full version of the game or signing up for Game Pass, which includes the base Diablo IV and its expansions at all tiers.
Diablo 4's Latest Expansion Lands Next Month
As mentioned earlier, it's a great time to head into Diablo IV right now, given that the next major expansion, Lord of Hatred, is set to drop next month. That sees the return of Mephisto, whose in-game title serve as the title for the expansion, and it promises to bring a raft of new content and challenges to the game to keep players grinding.
Lord of Hatred is set to release for Diablo IV on April 28, 2026, so it's worth taking advantage of this free play period, if you're on the fence, before it does drop.
Systems
Released June 5, 2023
ESRB Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Engine Proprietary Engine
English (US) ·