Games

New Report Reveals Canceled Plans for a Donkey Kong Open-World Game on the Switch

Recent revelations suggest that a proposed open-world Donkey Kong game for the Nintendo Switch, developed by Vicarious Visions, never materialized.
New Report Reveals Canceled Plans for a Donkey Kong Open-World Game on the Switch

Highlights

  • Plans for an open-world Donkey Kong game on the Switch by Vicarious Visions were reportedly abandoned.
  • Donkey Kong's last solo game was Tropical Freeze over ten years ago, marking a significant gap in releases.
  • The canceled open-world game, Donkey Kong Freedom, was shelved when Vicarious Visions shifted focus to a Crash Bandicoot project after key creators departed.

Recent reports are shedding light on a canceled project involving an open-world Donkey Kong game that was intended for the Nintendo Switch but never came to fruition. An hour-long video has surfaced, claiming that the development of this Donkey Kong game was under the purview of Vicarious Visions, which was known as Blizzard Albany at the time.

Despite Donkey Kong starting as a villain in Mario games before transitioning to a heroic role in his own adventures, he remains one of Nintendo's most iconic characters. However, it has been more than ten years since he starred in his own game. The last title, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, was released on the Wii U in February 2014, with Tropical Freeze being the final game where the gorilla took center stage. Retro Studios, the developer behind Tropical Freeze, redirected its focus to the Metroid series after this game.

Details about the shelved project came to light on the Did You Know Gaming YouTube channel through Liam Robertson, who specializes in documenting canceled and unreleased video game endeavors. The information was primarily sourced from a report by Hyle "Slush" Russell, the founder of DK Vine, published in January 2024. The original account highlighted Vicarious Visions' collaboration with Nintendo, specifically incorporating Nintendo characters like Donkey Kong into Skylanders Superchargers using Nintendo figurines that doubled as Amiibos. This collaboration reportedly led to the conception of a game for the Switch codenamed Donkey Kong Freedom, where the titular ape would navigate an open-world environment swinging and grinding on vines to protect banana trees in the Kongs' jungle from industrial threats.

The Fate of Donkey Kong Freedom

According to DK Vine's initial report, the departure of Vicarious Visions' founders Karthik and Guha Bala in 2016 marked the downfall of Donkey Kong Freedom. The report indicates that the Bala brothers were keen on collaborating with Nintendo and had a positive working relationship with Donkey Kong creator and veteran Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto. Nevertheless, Activision redirected Vicarious Visions towards developing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, a collection of remastered Crash Bandicoot games released in 2017.

Enthusiasts awaiting a sequel to Tropical Freeze will have to wait longer for another installment in the series. However, Donkey Kong continues to maintain a presence in Nintendo's realm through various avenues. Following a notable appearance in 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, featuring a memorable portrayal by actor Seth Rogen, Universal Epic Universe is set to introduce a Donkey Kong attraction scheduled to launch in 2025.

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