Lately, many rumors surrounding Nintendo seem to be regarding either the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or the highly-rumored Nintendo Switch Pro console. And while fans can always expect to see regular refreshes of popular Nintendo IPs like Mario and Zelda, it seems that the attention and buzz has shifted to others, such as Metroid and F-Zero as of late, and now, fans are beginning to wonder what's up with Donkey Kong.
The last original mainline Donkey Kong game to release was Donkey Country: Tropical Freeze on the Wii U back in 2014. The game also saw a port to the Nintendo Switch about FOUR years later, adding the now infamous Funky Mode. And even though this year marks the iconic ape's 40th anniversary, Nintendo has been remarkably quiet on the subject. However, some new rumors seem to suggest that a brand-new DK game is on the way.
The rumors come by way of Nintendo news site Nintendo Life, as well as other online personalities in the Nintendo community. The rumor mentioned by YouTuber LonelyGoomba mentions that they have heard "unlikely" rumblings of a new 3D Donkey Kong game being developed by the team behind the hit Super Mario Odyssey. Nintendo Life has in-turn confirmed that this lines up with rumors they have heard from a credible source, aside from hearing that the game would be 2D or 2.5D, and not 3D.
Nintendo Life's mention of a 2D/2.5D Donkey Kong game seems to fall more in line with another rumor mentioned by popular leaker Zippo over on their personal blog. Zippo mentions that a 2D Donkey Kong game is being developed by Nintendo EPD Tokyo, as opposed to Retro Studios, who might understandably already have their hands full with something like Metroid Prime 4. Reportedly, this is part of a plan to bring DK back to Nintendo as an internally-developed series, as the new title would not be a part of the Donkey Kong Country series accordingly.
Zippo expects the upcoming DK game to be mentioned in some way at this year's all-virtual E3 experience in June, with reported hopes to release the title before the end of 2021. Surprisingly, these rumors seem to be coming out of the blue, but have fans excited nonetheless. After all, Donkey Kong is arguably just as recognizable as characters like Mario, so it may do Nintendo favors to bring him back into the limelight.
In terms of Nintendo's presentation at E3 this year, fans of course hope to learn more about titles like Breath of the Wild 2 and Splatoon 3, with a sliver of hope to learn more on Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3. Regardless, it will certainly be interesting to see what Nintendo brings to the table come this summer.
Source: Zippospeaks, Nintendo Life