Donkey Kong Bananza has potentially been in development for nearly eight years: 'we started developing it after finishing Super Mario Odyssey'

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Donkey Kong Bananza has seemingly been in development for close to eight years
That's according to producer, Kenta Motokura
It's entirely possible Bananza has been in development longer than Grand Theft Auto 6

Donkey Kong Bananza is finally launching in a couple of days' time on July 17, 2025 for Nintendo Switch 2, and it seems like it's the end of a very long road for the game's developers.

Bananza's producer, Kenta Motokura, was recently interviewed by Spanish outlet La Vanguardia (via The Gamer) alongside director Kazuya Takahashi. During the interview, Motokura shared some insight in just how long the game took to make.

"I can't give you very precise details, I can tell you that we started developing it after finishing Super Mario Odyssey," said Motokura.

Super Mario Odyssey originally launched for Nintendo Switch in October 2017, meaning Donkey Kong Bananza has likely had a sizeable development period of close to eight years.

That might not be something you'd expect from a game that stars what Karl Pilkington might call "a little hairy fella," but not only does Bananza seem like it's a massive game, it also has impressive and detailed destructible environments.

Much like how The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had a lengthy six years in development - thanks to its massive additions to the world and impressive physics system - I can imagine Bananza taking a similar time to make for similar reasons.

For further comparison, Rockstar Games parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has claimed that Grand Theft Auto 6 started development "in earnest" only five years ago, around 2020.

So yes, it does seem like the funny monkey game has had a longer development cycle than what is slated to be the most monumental video game release of all time. Food for thought.

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Rhys is TRG's Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.

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