Here are the reasons Activision cites for the loss in players, and what it means for Call of Duty players and the games they love.
Reasons why Call of Duty lost 50m players

Activision explained the reasons for the large decline in players in their Q1 financial report, which revealed an overall decrease in Call of Duty sales. Most of the losses were attributed to the Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone's lack of popularity; Call of Duty Mobile, on the other hand, seems to be doing quite well.
"Call of Duty net bookings on console and PC declined year-over-year in the first quarter, reflecting lower premium sales for Call of Duty: Vanguard versus the year-ago title and lower engagement in Call of Duty: Warzone," the report read. "Call of Duty Mobile net bookings were little changed year-over-year."
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Many of Activision's overall losses for the quarter were apparently because of Call of Duty's Warzone and Vanguard titles.
"Financial performance declined year-over-year, primarily reflecting lower results for Call of Duty and product cycle timing at Blizzard," the report further explained.
While no official Warzone player counts have been published to suggest that the game has had a massive loss in players, Activision announced in August 2021 that Warzone reached 100 million players.

Call of Duty Mobile, on the other hand, brings in approximately 30 million players daily, with 210 million players actively playing the game, according to activeplayer.io.
That's why Call of Duty lost 50 million players in the past year, and what Activision is saying about it.
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Featured image courtesy of Activision.