Following details of a canceled Donkey Kong project at now-defunct development studio Vicarious Visions, supposed concept art has now surfaced online.
It’s known online as “Donkey Kong Freedom” (although there is an extensive video of it). Did you know the games He claims this was never the working title for the project), as the game was designed to be open world, allowing DK to “grind” through vines with a heavy emphasis on traversal and fluidity.
The image below has now been shared online and is supposed to come from a hard drive containing promotional assets from Vicarious Visions.
Vicarious Visions was under the Activision Blizzard umbrella at the time (and still is, albeit now under the name “Blizzard Albany”), and it was supposedly Activision that ultimately shelved the project, despite involvement and support from Nintendo.
Sales of Skylanders The franchises were in rapid decline, so Activision decided to move away from single-player experiences, abandoning the Donkey Kong project altogether.
Donkey Kong is in somewhat of a healthy state now, with a new title in the form of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD making its way to Switch on January 16, 2025.
“Writer. Friendly troublemaker. Lifelong food junkie. Professional beer evangelist.”