HotS Ranked Player distribution - Season 1 2019
The official player distribution released by Blizzard. 2018 and 2019 ranked seasons data provided by Heroes of the Storm developers Travis McGeathy and David Gower.
2016 Ranked Season 1
The community demanded an updated ranked player distribution as Blizzard released the latest official one during the first season of 2016.
Bronze: 11%
Silver: 35%
Gold: 23%
Platinum: 16%
Diamond: 14%
Master: 1%
GM: <1%
2018 Ranked Season 1
The lead game designer, Travis McGeathy, responded to their request with a comment on Reddit, revealing the distribution for the current season.
Bronze: 7%
Silver: 35%
Gold: 35%
Platinum: 15%
Diamond: 7%
Master: 1%
“I should note, those are the targets. Actual numbers vary a bit as the season goes on (for example, hardcore players tend to place earlier than more casual players), but roughly fall in line with that over time.
We aren’t aiming for a normal distribution, but rather one that makes sense and feels good for the majority of players. High ranks should feel exclusive, but not impossible to reach, while lower ranks should allow for movement while still containing the majority of players.
For bronze specifically, no one wants to be in the bottom tier, but someone has to be on the bottom. So, bronze exists, but is a relatively small number of players.”
Gold represents the average player. According to this updated distribution, Gold is the average tier as it includes players from 42 to 77 percentile.
Bronze for low-end casuals. The percentage of Bronze players decreased in the past years, which can be seen as a reasonable skill increase in the community.
More Gold, less Diamond players. We assume that the tiers have been reorganized over time, and now the Diamond tier is composed of more experienced players.
The elite remained the same. Master and Grand Master percentages are unchanged.
2019 Ranked Season 1
David Gower, developer at Blizzard, provided fresher data during the Heroes of the Storm AMA on August 8, 2019.
Bronze: 14%
Silver: 25%
Gold: 28%
Platinum: 22%
Diamond: 10%
Master: 1.15%
I converted everyone's ending position from Pre-season to the new MMR bands, and this is how we will start Season 1.
This will likely change as the season progresses, but I think it will generally hold firm around these values.
This is all the info we have so far, but I will update this article over time if more details will be disclosed.
Bonus: a picture of the HotS developer team shared during the AMA.
Header image: Blizzard
