Leaked concept art reveals canceled Donkey Kong game from Vicarious Visions

Alleged concept art for a canceled film Donkey Kong Vicarious Visions game leaked online. The Donkey Kong is one of Nintendo's oldest and best-known franchises, even older Super Mario Bros. and introducing players to both the titular gorilla and the Big N's plumber mascot. Over the years, Donkey Kong has also appeared in numerous spin-offs and crossovers alongside his own platforming adventures, although he hasn't starred in a brand new video game since Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Deep Freeze already in 2014.

Earlier this year it was reported that the former Vicarious Visions, the studio now known as Blizzard Albany, was working on one Donkey Kong Game for the Nintendo Switch with the code name Donkey Kong freedom. According to the rumors, it would have brought Donkey Kong into an open-world format, on a mission to save his jungle home from destruction. However, the project was reportedly canceled sometime around 2016, with Activision shifting focus to Vicarious Visions Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.

This unproduced work is apparently conceptual art Donkey Kong The game recently surfaced online and was posted on Reddit by user BirdonWheels. As Nintendo Life reports, this artwork depicts Donkey Kong standing in front of some sort of jungle ruins, with a door and statues decorated with images of monkeys and bananas, amidst a lush green landscape. BirdonWheels claims to have discovered this artwork while searching through an old hard drive full of Vicarious Visions assets and that the timestamp on the image is from June 20, 2016.

Leaked artwork gives players a glimpse into Vicarious Visions' rumored Donkey Kong game

This would happen around the time Vicarious Visions was rumored to be working on it Donkey Kong game, but it's not clear if this concept art is actually authentic. According to reports from the beginning of the year Donkey Kong freedom would have focused on fluid traversal gameplay, such as grinding on vines and swinging from trees, and it looks like the image shows the beginning of a level set in a temple.

However, this is just speculation Donkey Kong freedom was reportedly canceled due to the decline of the United States Skylanders series, which led to Activision shifting its focus away from single-player experiences. While fans are still waiting for a brand new one Donkey Kong Game brought by developer Forever Entertainment Donkey Kong Country Returns HD for the Nintendo Switch on January 16, 2025.

Donkey Kong Country

Many consider the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, released within just two years between 1994 and 1996, to be one of the best side-scrolling platform games of all time. After a long break, the series returned in 2010 and another game was released for the Wii U about four years later.