Nintendo’sDonkey Kongfranchise is a household name that is known by many generations of gamers. The series is lauded for the many platformers that were produced, with the most beloved being Rare’sSNES-eraDonkey Kong Countrytrilogy. Even the rebooted games ofDonkey Kong Country ReturnsandDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freezefrom Retro Studios has seen a similar amount of praise, expanding on what made the big ape’s series of games fun to play. That being said, the series has had little fanfare in terms of any new games.
The last release involvingDonkey Kong’s branding outside ofSuper Mariospin-offs was the aforementionedTropical Freeze’s Switch port, which was back in 2018. While rumors of a new Switch game for the series were active duringDonkey Kong’s 40th anniversary, nothing ended up being announced. These rumors of something new for the series are circulating again, due to a recent trademark filing from Nintendo.
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Some fans had noticed that Nintendo’sDonkey Kongtrademark was recently updated at the start of July. While most would brush this off as Nintendo future-proofing the rights of the franchise, this isn’t just a renewal, but rather a brand-new one that has some updated verbiage. More specifically, this trademark mentions “downloadable programs for portable and electronic consoles,” which fits the bill of the Nintendo Switch or any console that succeeds it.
This already has gotten some fans speculating that it’s possible that Nintendo is going to announce a newDonkey Konggame for the Switch at some point in the future. It’s also interesting that this updated trademark is popping up, consideringNintendo also recently renewed theDonkey Kongatrademark, a rhythm game spin-off series that involves DK playing the bongos to the beat of a song. That being said, there’s nothing that suggests that either a newDonkey KongorDonkey Kongagame could be coming out soon, and as mentioned previously could simply be Nintendo updating this trademark.
In terms of Donkey Kong’s other appearances in recent video games, he’s a playable captain in the Mario Sports spin-offMario Strikers Battle League, as well as a playable character inMario Party Superstars. Outside of video games, theDonkey Kongseries is rumored to be represented at Super Nintendo World as an expansion to the theme park. DK himself will also be making an appearance inthe upcomingSuper Mario Movieby Illumination, voiced by comedian and actor Seth Rogen.
