According to the Donkey Kong fansite DK Vine, Activision studio Vicarious Visions was working on a 3D Donkey Kong title for the Nintendo Switch. The platformer, codenamed “Freedom,” was reportedly scrapped in 2016.
The project was seemingly greenlit after Nintendo characters were added in Skylanders: SuperChargers, though this hasn’t been verified. Afterwards, Nintendo partnered with Vicarious Visions to see the project through, with Shigeru Miyamoto heavily involved in the title’s mechanics, giving plenty of feedback and suggestions.
The project never progressed past its earliest stages and was only in production for around six months.
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Video game historian Liam Robertson has also posted a video to YouTube that gives more details on the story. Check it out below:
What led the project to fail isn’t entirely clear, though it’s speculated to have much to do with Activision beginning to focus on the Call of Duty franchise almost exclusively during this period. This frustrated the founders of Vicarious Visions, who left the studio in 2016 to form Velen Studios, the developers behind Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit.
The last main title in the franchise was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, which was released in 2014 for Wii U. An enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch was released in May 2018. It’s unclear when we’ll see more of everyone’s favorite ape.
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Later this year, a Donkey Kong-themed area will open at Super Nintendo World in Japan, with the same area slated to come to America in 2025.
One of Nintendo’s bestselling franchises, Donkey Kong titles have sold over 65 million units as of 2021.
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