Update []: As pointed out by Kit himself, neither he nor Krysta were executive level at Nintendo, as was originally stated in this piece. Nintendo Life apologises for any confusion caused.
Original Story: It's fair to say that the reaction to the recent Donkey Kong Bananza Direct has been overwhelmingly positive, and the perception of the already-anticipated Switch 2 title has improved dramatically.
In fact, DK's next 3D adventure looks so good that some people speculate it might be the work of Nintendo's biggest and most talented development team: Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD).
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EPD, as we're sure you're aware, created the likes of Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Odyssey, and is expected to be the force behind Mario's first 3D outing on Switch 2.
Nintendo hasn't stated which team is working on Donkey Kong Bananza, but Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang—two former senior Nintendo staffers—have speculated that it might be EPD, which ties in with rumours we reported on all the way back in 2021.
Ellis believes that EPD could be developing the game, and if that is the case, "we might just be waiting for a good long time before we get the next 3D Mario game. That team is incredible; nobody's disputing the quality, [but] they are not fast, they are not prolific, they are not pumping out games."
In response to this comment, Yang says that we could be waiting between four and five years for Mario's big 3D debut on Switch 2, which would make it a mid-to-late generation release for the console. Yang also speculates that Nintendo isn't making any announcement on the development team for fear of upsetting those who are eagerly anticipating a 3D Mario in the next year or so.
Nintendo has a history of working with external studios on some of its biggest titles, with Bandai Namco being a regular contributor. It also has had several studios within its extended family which have worked on the Donkey Kong franchise in the past; UK-based Rare (now owned by Microsoft) famously rebooted the character back in 1994, and, more recently, Retro Studios gave Kong a new lease of life on Wii and Wii U.
Donkey Kong Bananza launches for the Nintendo Switch 2 on July 17th.