I think is unfair to say playing one of the best popular game series that has been popular for 20 years is the players fault.

Popular, yes. Best, is extremely debatable.

After 2010, the games dropped off a cliff. Infinity Ward were the ones that brought the series back from death in the first place. Treyarch were always the second tier COD studio, and it showed after half the IW team left to form Respawn Entertainment.

Although I guess we should sort of be happy that happened since we got Titanfall out of it. That would never have happened otherwise.