Nintendo Rumor Claims Open-World Donkey Kong Game Is in Development

A new Nintendo rumor has claimed that an open-world Donkey Kong game is in the works and could launch on the eventual successor to the Switch. For a prolonged period of time, various rumors and reports have continued to state that a new Donkey Kong game of some sort would be released by Nintendo soon. While these rumors have always been somewhat spotty, previous assertions have suggested that the Donkey Kong title was being developed by the same team at Nintendo behind Super Mario Odyssey. Fortunately, it now sounds like many of these previous rumors may have been quite legitimate. 

Based on new information from Nintendo Prime in the latest episode of Nintendo Prime Podcast, Nintendo has had a new, 3D Donkey Kong game in development for quite some time. This project is said to have (strangely) been helmed by Activision studio Vicarious Visions before eventually moving in-house to be worked on at Nintendo around 2017 or 2018. Since that time, Nintendo is said to have been toiling away on the game at the same studio that developed Super Mario Odyssey. That being said, many of these team members that are making the game are said to have spun off from the Mario group to develop the title.

When it comes to the specifics of this Donkey Kong game itself, the project was said to have been titled “Donkey Kong Freedom” at one point, but it’s not known if this was ever an official name. Beyond this, the game supposedly takes place in an open-world and would allow Donkey Kong to slide on trees to get around, similar to Tarzan. Longtime Nintendo designer and director Shigeru Miyamoto is also claimed to have been heavily involved with the new Donkey Kong game. Nintendo Prime went on to say that the project is “absolutely” still in development and added that it could be a launch game for Nintendo’s next console. 

When it comes to how much of this info was gathered in the first place, the insider claims that they were shown roughly 40 seconds of footage from Donkey Kong project not long ago. This gameplay that was shown was said to be somewhat similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and briefly showed Donkey Kong running around a jungle environment. Nintendo Prime said that other insiders have also seen this footage, but states that it will likely never see the light of day because it would out the person who leaked it. 

It’s worth stressing that since this is just a rumor, take everything that has been outlined with a pretty major grain of salt for the time being. Much of what Nintendo Prime has stated here is a bit too granular and specific to be taken as a flimsy rumor, which means there is reason to believe what has been expressed. Still, until Nintendo itself confirms that a new Donkey Kong game is on the way, it would be best to not get too excited just yet. 

What do you think about a potential Donkey Kong game that is set in an open-world? And are you hoping that this title is eventually revealed by Nintendo? Let me know either down in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @MooreMan12. 

[H/T @Pikminsnezkov]