Darksiders franchise apparently hasn't had any bids for it, or at least Vigil hadn't.  It apparently didn't do enough sales to be able to get sufficient interest.  What is the problem?  Isn't it supposed to be an excellent franchise spoken of highly?  What gave for it ending up pretty much a dead IP at this point?  Ok, if it isn't dead, who do you see really picking it up and running with it?

Edit: 

http://www.gamrreview.com/news/89706/thqs-jason-rubin-lack-of-vigil-bids-a-travesty/

Ok, there are rumors that Platinum games may want to pick it up.  But still, what exactly happened with the Darksiders franchise that ended up causing it to end up in the state it had been?

I'm guessing the sales didn't offset the production costs? The first Darksiders was able to reach 1 Million with X360 + PC. (According to VGC.) Maybe that didn't justify the production costs.

Both D1 and 2 are good games. te first one was a surprise hit, and managed to do well at budget prices. For the second THQ remained with no marketing muscle, and even tough the game was solid, it did not have that evolutionary AAA sequel vibe that was needed for it to succeed.

People didn't bid on Vigil but the Darksiders IP will probably be picked up. As that article points out, buying Vigil would represent a loss for quite awhile. Darksiders II just came out, it would be years before it would be a profitable acquisition, and then you're taking a risk on their next game, which is in preliminary stages.

Everyone was looking at it as a big risk, most likely, besides being a short term money sink. It's a shame but it's kind of understandable given where they are at in production.

I'm not sure but it could be because people often relate or compare a new franchise like Darksiders or Castlevania LoS to existing, and highly favoured franchises like Zelda and God of War. Gamers, IMO, often make such comparisons to the detriment of the new franchise. Maybe that's why games like Darksiders (good game), Dante's Inferno (not so good game), or even PSASBR will always be compared to other well loved franchises and therefore overlooked and not sell well.

So, gamers are the problem

Mid-tier games are just getting more and more squeezed out the industry. Something like Darksiders would never have the appeal to be a big 3m+ for few months type seller, and unfortunately those are the sort of sales it needed to be a viable money making IP worth buying. As costs go up games like this will struggle to find funding, they either need to 'downsize' to the downloadable space or not bother I guess. Tis a shame but hardly something new - we've seen the same thing happens to franchises like Socom, Red Faction, Prince of Persia etc in recent years.

People just didn't buy the darn thing. I'm guilty of it. I beat it once while borrowing it from a friend and there is little replay value. It gets a bit repetitive, but the game is very good. Soundtrack was fantastic. Hopefully someone picks up the Darksiders brand.

If Take two bought Darksiders or Saints Row, that would be cool

Well, the question would be why it didn't sell.  People keep saying "marketing", but I did see adds for it, and it did have a buzz from what I could tell.  People here knew it was coming.  So the question is why it didn't manage to turn a profit.

Well it just released at a time when there is gamer fatigue with consoles. The current generation has lasted *WAY* too long and sales of games as well as consoles are reflecting that.

Darksiders is a mid-tier franchise and as such I don't think expectations were all that high to begin with. If it's not a giant blockbuster like Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed, or a durable, well-known series like Mario or Pokemon, it's just not going to sell all that well.