Considering the hole that TaleWorlds have dug themselves into, I'm half-expecting a multiplayer shutdown announcement at 1.9.0, with an actual follow through at 1.9.5.If they released a stable version of multiplayer tomorrow, with custom servers.. I don't think the player count would significantly improve.
The multiplayer has just been lacking the bare minimum for such a long time, I don't know how can any game dig itself out of this hole.
Not what I'd like to see, but it seems like the most realistic outcome for Bannerlord's multiplayer.