Forever Entertainment developing Donkey Kong Country Returns HD

If you’ve been wondering who the developer is behind Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, we now have that answer. It turns out Forever Entertainment is working on the port. That news comes from an official notice posted following the announcement.

This is the first time Nintendo and Forever Entertainment are working so closely together on a re-release. In 2021, Forever announced that it was receiving “significant financial backing” from the company. Read more about that here.

Nintendo revealed Donkey Kong Country Returns HD during a Direct presentation yesterday. The game, which was originally made by Retro Studios, is being released for the third time – it first appeared on Wii, later on 3DS with new levels, and now on Switch in higher resolution.

As of now the Switch edition appears to be a mostly straightforward port. Aside from its new HD resolution and a few graphical tweaks (plus the inclusion of the 3DS levels), it’s largely the same game.

Forever Entertainment has plenty of experience working with classic games. It previously published The House of the Dead: Remake, Front Mission: 1st Remake, Front Mission 2nd, and Magical Drop VI.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD launches for Switch on January 16, 2025.