Game news A cult Nintendo license in the hands of developers other than those of Mario's parents? That's what they say!
Advertisement
Although all this is now history, a developer other than Nintendo was working on the title of an iconic character from the Mario universe in 3D. But what game was it and how is this possible?
Advertisement
Activision in Nintendo's little papers
The Vicarious Visions studio, currently named Blizzard Albany owned by Activision, was likely on the project.Freedom” in 2016, a game Donkey Kong in 3D planned for the Nintendo Switch. According to information given by Liam Robertson on the DK Vine site, Vicarious Visions was able to take care of the development of the game after impressing the gallery by including Nintendo characters in Skylanders Superchargers (notably Bowser and Donkey Kong). This small collaboration would then have allowed Vicarious Visions to inherit the project.
However, Nintendo, in particular Shigeru Miyamotocreator of Mario and important figure at Nintendo,was reportedly heavily involved in the project, offering ideas and feedback on game mechanics.
Although Vicarious Visions was in charge of the game's development, Nintendo was never too far away to give certain directives; which was reassuring. Except that you will have understood it well, There was a problem.
A fabulous Donkey Kong project immediately abandoned
The game was designed as an open-ended platform game emphasizing the movement and freedom of movement afforded to Donkey Kong, including sliding through vines. Vicarious Visions wanted to use the experience the studio had gained with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 to give DK the ability to ride freely.
After spending six months working jointly with Nintendo, the project was abandoned. This failure is explained by Activision's desire to focus almost exclusively on Call of Duty, abandoning a good number of franchises. Now, there is something fishy under the rock; Is this really a decision by Activision or a premature end of contract led by Nintendo? No information has been released on the real reason for this abandonment, but one thing is certain, it pushed Karthik and Guha Bala to leave the studio in 2016. They then founded Velan Studios, which then developed Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Knockout City and more recently Hot Wheels: Rift Rally.
Since this rout, there has been no official announcement from Nintendo regarding a new Donkey Kong game. However, some clues suggest that a new game could well be in development: notably Nintendo's hiring of developers in 2022. The Japanese company was looking for a lead animator specializing in 3D action-adventure games. A job description strangely close to the old DK 3D project, but this information is unfortunately far too thin to be happy about it.
Nintendo is known for not letting anything slip and generally keeping its projects masterfully secret until they are ready to be announced. This is why it is possible that the charismatic Donkey Kong could have a new game following Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, but let's not hope too much either to avoid being disappointed.