Krupi mate, at what time were 50 people on? (GMT). I tried late on (between 11pm-12.30 am GMT/BST approx) and there were 15 people playing worldwide (on syndicate).
Also, is it now the case that the 'numbers' listed are all actually Human players? A long while back, Syndicate had consistently high 'attendance' of (I think around 25 or so) but I found that the majority of them were actually 'bots' at the time that were apparently being counted (months ago)....is this no longer the case?
I think people are probably avoiding multiplayer till the sound, control and FM issues are fixed...err, alright, the entire sim, lol.

Especially the badly porked Spit MkI). I would try and fly for Blue if required next weekend, (prefer Red) but I still get crazy input issues with the 109......Flaps opening when they feel like it, landing gear sometimes refusing to extend, elevator trim function randomly ceasing, CEM seizing up completely and radiator control seizing up etc. Really annoying ( I do not get this with Spits and Hurris).
Note: Nothing to do with anthropomorphic control either, its badly bugged and I reported it months ago at SimHq. It can actually be 'fixed' sometimes by exiting to menu screen and then hitting 'fly' again.....but mostly I have to restart the mission entirely.