It’s been nearly one month since MLB The Show 25 was released for early access. This year’s game brought many changes to the structure of the title, including how widely available it would be and Diamond Dynasty structure. Diamond Dynasty is arguably MLB The Show’s most-played online mode, as its near-500,000 player base pales in comparison to the roughly 22,000 who’ve played Online Rated. Thus, it’s a good barometer for how many people actively play it.
The questionnthat I’m putting forward is, how does MLB The Show 25’s player base compare to 24?
A Look at Diamond Dynasty Numbers in 2024
Back in 2024, I saw a social media post going over the raw totals of players in each specific Diamond Dynasty level after the first Ranked Season. While it wasn’t completely accurate — for the simple reason that it was done several days before the end of the first season — it did shed a good light on how exactly the player base was spread out.
For reference, here’s the complete list, per the MLB The Show database:
| Rank | Raw Total |
|---|---|
| World Series (900+) | 2,212 |
| Championship Series (800-899) | 4,582 |
| Division Series (700-799) | 16,770 |
| Wild Card (600-699) | 38,700 |
| Pennant Race (500-599) | 62,555 |
| All-Star (400-499) | 100,824 |
| Regular Season (200-399) | 127,993 |
| Spring Training (0-199) | 225,790 |
| TOTAL | 579,426 |
A couple of interesting notes from the above numbers. One, almost 600,000 people created a Diamond Dynasty team and played at least one Ranked game. Two, very few players managed to hit the 800+ ranks. Only 1.17% hit at least 800 and stayed there, while only 0.38% hit World Series.
The Sony team stated before the launch of 25 that less than 1% of the player base hit World Series — the author of this article was one of the rare exceptions — in the past. That’s important to note, as for MLB The Show 25, the threshold was lowered to 800.
Initial Numbers for MLB The Show 25
So, did Sony accomplish its goal to get more players into World Series? Here’s a look at the numbers as of April 9, which will be somewhat different compared to the final total but roughly similar:
| Rank | Raw Total |
|---|---|
| World Series (900+) | 1,310 |
| World Series (800-899) | 10,100 |
| Championship Series (700-799) | 14,874 |
| Division Series (600-699) | 35,913 |
| Wild Card (500-599) | 51,132 |
| Pennant Race (400-499) | 67,677 |
| All-Star (300-399) | 63,925 |
| Regular Season (200-299) | 111,458 |
| Spring Training (0-199) | 113,327 |
| TOTAL | 469,716 |
The short answer is yes. As of the 9th, at least 11,410 players hit World Series, a number that’s likely higher given players can rank down either by forfeiting or just losing. Diamond Dynasty players will lose rating in most levels.
From a percentage standpoint, that’s 2.4%.
However, the amount of players in the 900+ range is down by almost 1,000. In the past, one needed to hit 900 to get the World Series reward, which included a Diamond Choice Pack and the World Series icon. Now, the only incentives to move up past 800 are either A) competition, B) better rewards for Weekend Classic and C) a crack at the 1000 Reward.
For reference, only 264 players had a 1000+ rating as of this writing.
As for other takewaways, the player numbers from 600+ between 2024 and 2025 is roughly similar. MLB The Show 24 had 62,264 players stick in that range at the end of Ranked 1. For MLB The Show 25, it was 62,197 as of this writing.
It’s worth noting that for Ranked 1, Hall of Fame difficulty kicked in at 600 for 25, compared to 700 for 24.
However, perhaps the most notable number is this: 18.9%. That’s the decrease in total players who played at least one Ranked game in 25, compared to MLB 24.
Why that could be the case? Sony took the game off Xbox Game Pass, taking away the ability to play the game for virtually nothing, provided one paid the price for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Additionally, no old-gen version (PS4 and Xbox One) was made for 25.
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