diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
index 5eb42c71..65fe92e3 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
@@ -802,7 +802,9 @@ func _apply_per_player_difficulty_overrides() -> void:
 	var levels: Dictionary = {}
 	for entry: Dictionary in diff_data.get("ai_difficulty", []):
 		levels[str(entry.get("id", ""))] = entry.get("ai_modifiers", {})
-	for p_idx: int in range(GameState.players.size()):
+	# Use a fixed upper bound — this runs before loading_screen.gd populates
+	# GameState.players, so players.size() == 0. Check all possible player slots.
+	for p_idx: int in range(8):
 		var key: String = "AI_DIFFICULTY_P%d" % p_idx
 		var tier: String = EnvConfig.get_var(key, "")
 		if tier.is_empty():