Donkey Kong Bananza is now less than a week away, and one of the game’s producers recently revealed that it might have been in development for a longer period than even Grand Theft Auto 6. Donkey Kong Bananza was one of many first-party games announced for the Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this year, with pre-launch trailers showing the legendary gorilla joining forces with a young Pauline on a subterranean adventure to recover the Golden Bananas from the evil VoidCo and have their wishes granted at the planet’s core.
Fans have noticed many similarities between Donkey Kong Bananza and 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey, and this might be because Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development and 1-Up Studio have worked on both. Kazuya Takahashi is also serving as the game's director, and he reportedly played every previous Donkey Kong game in preparation for the next interactive journey starring Nintendo’s iconic simian mascot.
Early Copies of Donkey Kong Bananza Are Out in the Wild
Some copies of Donkey Kong Bananza have appeared on social media ahead of the highly anticipated game's July 17 launch.
Donkey Kong Bananza producer Kenta Motokura, who also directed Super Mario Odyssey, recently revealed how long the upcoming Switch 2 game has been in development in an interview with Spanish news website La Vanguardia (via TheGamer). While he couldn’t give out an exact date, he says that work on Donkey Kong Bananza started back in 2017, shortly after his team finished its work on Super Mario Odyssey. Donkey Kong Bananza also began as a game for the original Switch before being transferred to the Switch 2, just like Mario Kart World before it.
Donkey Kong Bananza Has Been In Development for Almost Eight Years
This means that Donkey Kong Bananza has been in the works for about eight years, perhaps an even longer time than the long-awaited and highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6. An ex-Rockstar employee claimed that development for GTA 6 didn’t begin until after Red Dead Redemption 2 was finished in 2018, while publisher Take-Two Interactive revealed that work on the game began “in earnest” in 2020. Meanwhile, the first few years of Donkey Kong Bananza’s development likely consisted of pre-production work, as director Kazuya Takahashi didn’t join Nintendo until 2020.
Donkey Kong Bananza is also going to come out long before Grand Theft Auto 6, as the former is launching on the Nintendo Switch 2 on July 17, while GTA 6 will be released on May 26 2026 after a delay from its previously planned 2025 launch window. Copies of Donkey Kong Bananza are already out in the wild, so players should be careful if they want to steer clear of spoilers ahead of the game’s release later this week.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 91 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
- Released
- July 17, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
WHERE TO PLAY
The big guy is back! Donkey Kong swings onto the Nintendo Switch 2 system with a brand-new action adventure.
Help Donkey Kong make his way through the depths of the Underground World. The deeper he goes, the more amazing places he finds! There's no shortage of things DK can pulverize with his powerful punches. Break on through this truly destructive adventure.
Behold the golden bananas! The mysterious group, known
as VoidCo, has its eyes on this
prized bunch. But no one messes with DK's favourite food!
Golden bananas? The whole island was buzzing about the discovery of this tasty treasure. But then, distaster struck! During the chaos, VoidCo stole every breathtaking bunch of bananas. Now Donkey Kong must venture deep underground to get them back!
