Now that we’re roughly a month into MLB The Show 26, it’s time to take a look at numbers. Namely, the number of Diamond Dynasty users, which gives the public an indication of how much engagement and activity are going on online. And comparing this year’s numbers to last year, ’26 has significantly more engagement — but is there a catch?
A look at Diamond Dynasty numbers from ’26
We did this last year during the first MLB The Show 25 Diamond Dynasty, so it’s worth doing it again to see how the player base has changed, if at all. For those who read that Ranked Season 1 recap, we noted that fewer players were around in ’25, compared to ’24. However, there were roughly the same number of people playing in the 600+ range between the two games, hinting that the “committed” base stayed the same.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the raw player total from the first season on MLB The Show 26 Diamond Dynasty:
| Rank | Raw Total |
|---|---|
| World Series (900+) | 4,377 |
| World Series (800-899) | 14,186 |
| Championship Series | 19,576 |
| Division Series | 42,597 |
| Wild Card | 62,840 |
| Pennant Race | 86,739 |
| All-Star | 84,747 |
| Regular Season | 130,315 |
| Spring Training | 154,719 |
| TOTAL | 600,096 |
To say that these numbers are interesting would be an understatement. But before getting more into that, let’s just go over quickly how these numbers were taken.
All of these figures came straight from Sony San Diego’s leaderboards. To get on it, a player must play at least one game during the active ranked season. The ranks can fluctuate throughout, as individuals can rise or fall over the course of the season.
It also only takes into account those who played before the Weekend Classic, meaning individuals could have risen or fallen in rank during that event. For those unaware, records do not change during the Weekend Classic.
Now, let’s get to the fun part: the year-to-year comparison.
Comparison to ’25
For a quick reminder, here are the player numbers from Season 1 of ’25:
| 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 |
So, what was the change year-to-year? Here it is:
| Rank | Year-to-Year % Change |
|---|---|
| World Series (900+) | 234.12% |
| World Series (800-899) | 40.46% |
| Championship Series | 31.61% |
| Division Series | 18.61% |
| Wild Card | 22.90% |
| Pennant Race | 28.17% |
| All-Star | 32.57% |
| Regular Season | 16.92% |
| Spring Training | 36.52% |
| TOTAL | 27.76% |
Yes, you are reading all of that correctly.
From a pure numbers standpoint, there were significant increases across the board in Diamond Dynasty.
Overall, there were over 27% more accounts that had at least one game played in Diamond Dynasty at the end of Season 1. It’s a remarkable stat, to say the least.
And those numbers came off the heels of the publisher putting out a 10% loyalty discount for pre-orders made before the game’s launch, so long as individuals purchased a digital copy of any game between 2021 and 2025.
Perhaps the biggest increase came in the World Series rank. Last year, roughly 2.4% of players were able to make it to at least 800 in the first season. That was notable, given that ’25 was the first game since Sony lowered the standard to make the highest rank from 900 to 800.
And what might be the wildest statistic was that 2,449 players made it 1000+ before the end. Only 264 players were able to do that in Season 1. However, those numbers lead to something else to think about.
Some shady stuff
Yes, there is some smoke to the theory that there are bots in Diamond Dynasty, particularly at the highest level. But before we get to that, there are even shadier numbers within the leaderboards. Take a look at one account that has a perfect 46-0 record in Diamond Dynasty.
No runs were scored in any of the 46 games. Here’s another, to beat the point across:
Many individuals across social media have indicated that there is a lineup glitch designed to block opponents from playing and forcing a loss on the other side.
Getting back to the possibility of the bots, many of the top-300 accounts after Season 1 have unusual characteristics. Namely, team OVR ratings that are anywhere between 68-70, and odd win-loss ratios.
Additionally, these accounts’ game history is also strange. Many of these accounts within the top-300 have roughly +15-20 win differentials, and games that last from one to three innings with only one team scoring. Here are examples:
To state that the numbers are interesting would be an understatement.
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