Anyone here think it’s about time we see a glimpse of that DK game that had rumors rumbling heavily this time last year? Would be interesting. As a huge DK fan, I welcome more games from this franchise. We simply don’t have enough!
I think it's worth digging into this a little bit, because
DK Vine were the original source for this and they claim that Donkey Kong began development at EPD four or five years ago:
Development of the new Donkey Kong game purportedly began around 2017 or 2018, when Nintendo decided to bring Donkey Kong back internally for the first time since Nintendo EAD's Donkey Kong Jungle Beat... although Jungle Beat was more of a stopgap than a permanent status quo.
And Nintendo wouldn't be waiting for Retro to circle back around to Donkey Kong. Shortly thereafter, a new Donkey Kong game entered development by an outside studio for the Nintendo Switch. While little is known about this project, Nintendo decided to go in an entirely different direction around mid-to-late 2017. Led by Shigeru Miyamoto's desire for the Donkey Kong franchise to come home, and championed by younger EPD devs who grew up with the Super Donkey Kong series (as Donkey Kong Country is known in Japan), the decision was made for Nintendo EPD to take over the DK series. This timeframe also corresponds with when Nintendo's merchandising department split off the Donkey Kong brand from Super Mario, making it a separate entity for the first time in nearly 20 years.
As they were starting over from scratch, more stopgaps were devised. Tropical Freeze was announced for the Nintendo Switch in early 2018, as was the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC for Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. But by that point, Donkey Kong was firmly ensconced in his new home in Japan. And that's the abbreviated history of why there hasn't been a new Donkey Kong game since 2014. So Nintendo Life, what do the rumors say?
DK Vine's claim of the game being in the works since 2017 or 18 is interesting; how I'd personally interpret this is that while a decision was made for Donkey Kong to become an internal EPD property at that time, and that prototyping began, we're likely not looking at a game entering full production at EPD in 2017 or 2018. It's entirely possible the game - and perhaps other projects at EPD - has had a turbulent development, if it exists. Personally, given how EPD works - lots of prototype ideas, relatively few projects in full scale production at a time - my assumption (and it's only an assumption) is that there was probably a lengthy protoyping period by a small team. Given it would be the first internal DK title since 2004, I think Nintendo would want to get it right; and if Miyamoto has been involved (likely, given DK is one of his babies), then he may well have been fairly demanding or particular about the direction taken.
Nintendo Life's report on the matter was far less detailed, but it did specify the game was 2D and in the works at EPD in Tokyo (the location 3D Mario is made and home to EPD 8):
YouTuber
LonelyGoomba has mentioned the rumour in passing on social media and
other sources have also discussed it, but Nintendo Life can confirm that it has heard the same rumour from an independent (and very trusted) source, which would appear to lend this report some degree of legitimacy. However, our source claims that the game will be 2D (or 2.5D, if you prefer) and not 3D.
Now, if we're wondering whether there's potentially any credence to the idea of a 2D DK in development at EPD 8, we know that EPD 8 hired designers for a 2D game starting in August 2020. That's well after DK Vine's claimed development start for DK, but like I said, given how EPD works, it could well be that a decision was made to bring DK back to internal development well before a full production team was available, or even well before Nintendo decided to assemble a full team. Hiring calls also indicate EPD 8 are working on a 3D game (hiring began October 2019), and the credits for 3D World + Bowser's Fury also indicate EPD 8's involvement in that project was minimal, with the bulk of the staff coming from NST and 1-UP. That's a fair indication EPD 8 are busy working something else, or perhaps more than one something else given the two different hiring calls.
While Nintendo Life define EPD Tokyo as 'the Super Mario Odyssey team', that's a little misleading. 3D Mario absolutely is EPD Tokyo's calling card, but EPD groups can and do handle multiple franchises, meaning production groups can be home to two franchises handled by different teams within the production group. Most notably we see this with EPD 5, which is home to both Splatoon and Animal Crossing, which are the responsibility of different teams. Given we now know a major goal of Nintendo's is to expand internal development, it's not a wild reach to assume that increasing the number of franchises handled internally could be part of that goal. While a lot of investment is targeting Kyoto, the main development hub, EPD 8 in Tokyo were moved into new, larger offices a few years ago (shortly before the 3D game hiring call in 2019, I think); and the historic reason Nintendo established a production group in Tokyo was to take advantage of the local talent and outsourcing scene there, in order to take some pressure off resources in Kyoto. That logic likely still applies to EPD in Tokyo today.
TL;DR: it's not real until it's real, but a DK game made in Tokyo by EPD 8 has more than the DK Vine and Nintendo Life reports; it's feasible given DK's historic popularity and status; it's feasible given EPD 8's recent expansion and their recent hiring calls; it's feasible given recent activity around the DK brand in the form of the theme park and a potential movie.
But it ain't real till it's real. Personally, given the August 2020 hiring call, I think DK could be 2023 or 2024, if it's real.
