Donkey Kong Concept Art From Cancelled Switch Game Leaked

Earlier this year, it was revealed that a Donkey Kong video game was once in the planning stages from developer Vicarious Visions. The Activision owned studio might have seemed like an unusual pick to helm a new Donkey Kong game, but it made sense given the timeframe; Vicarious Visions had recently made Donkey Kong a playable character in the Nintendo versions of Skylanders SuperChargers. Unfortunately, the game got cancelled by Activision before getting far into production. It took years before we started to learn details about the project, but now a new piece of concept art has seemingly surfaced, showing DK standing in front of some ruins.

The concept art originally appeared in a thread on Reddit, and was shared on Bluesky by user Geemu. It can be found in the post embedded below.

Concept art leaked by a user on Reddit for canceled Donkey Kong game developed by Vicarious Visions (Blizzard Albany).

— geemu (@gameshiyou.bsky.social) 2024-10-23T14:48:20.673Z

Very few details about this cancelled Donkey Kong game have surfaced so far. One aspect previously revealed by Did You Know Gaming is that DK would have had the ability to grind on vines. DK creator Shigeru Miyamoto expressed concerns that the big ape could burn his feet, so the developers would have had DK use banana peels like shoes during these segments. The character Pauline was slated to make an appearance in the game, where she would have gotten a revamp and redesign, which was inspired by the real-life primatologist Jane Goodall. 

It’s interesting to get a glimpse at what might have been! One of the biggest complaints of the Switch era is that Donkey Kong has not received as much focus as Nintendo’s other icons. It seems Nintendo had plans for the big ape on Switch, but when the Vicarious Visions game got cancelled, it left a vacuum. That vacuum has been filled with remakes and remasters like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Mario vs. Donkey Kong, as well as the upcoming Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. However, none of those have been nearly as exciting as an original game, and fans have clearly been hungry for something more substantial.

Hopefully Nintendo will have a lot more for Donkey Kong fans to celebrate in the company’s next console era. While Nintendo has yet to officially announce its Switch successor, we know that the new system will be announced at some point before the company’s fiscal year ends in March 2025. Fans have been waiting with bated breath for the console’s announcement, but it remains to be seen whether it will take place before the end of 2024. We don’t know what games will be announced for the new system, but a new Donkey Kong seems like a safe bet. As one of Nintendo’s oldest icons, it’s possible we could even see it within the system’s first few years. Hopefully Nintendo won’t keep fans waiting too long!

How do you feel about this piece of Donkey Kong concept art? Do you think a new DK game will get announced soon for Switch 2? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!