Donkey Kong Bananza "probably" had the best physical release of the franchise in the UK

But the data cannot confirm this because Nintendo has not disclosed the direct sales it made from its shop.
Text: Alberto Garrido
Published 2025-07-24

Earlier this week we informed you about the physical launch sales figures for Donkey Kong Bananza in the UK, provided by Christopher Dring of The Game Business. As usual, he doesn't reveal exact figures, but he did give approximations of how DK and Pauline's debut has fared in the country. The data was good, but it seems it wasn't overwhelming, and in fact was half of the previous game the EAD Tokyo studio released. Namely, Super Mario Odyssey.

But if we're talking in terms of the Kong Family, Bananza's entry has been very good. In fact it's "probably number 1" on the list of the franchise's best releases ever. The Game Business has updated the data, but says they can't confirm that Donkey Kong Bananza beat Wii's Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) because Nintendo hasn't shared direct sales data from My Nintendo Store.

It certainly doesn't sound bad, also considering that in 2025 the percentage of digital sales in Nintendo games is already higher than that of physical games, a far cry from the Wii era.

What do you think, do you think Donkey Kong Bananza has been the biggest release in the character's history?

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