Nintendo Drops DK 64 News on Harambe's Anniversary

May 28, 2016: Harambe the gorilla is shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo, launching a decade of memes, tributes, and internet mythology. May 28, 2026: Nintendo announces that Donkey Kong 64, starring gaming's most famous gorilla, is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch Online N64 library. I refuse to believe nobody at Nintendo looked at a calendar.

Donkey Kong 64 will arrive on June 4 for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers, bringing the total N64 catalogue to 43 games in the West. Rare's 1999 collectathon has been one of the most requested additions to the service for years, and fans spotted what appeared to be its box art in a blurred section of a Switch Online trailer back in July 2025. But the timing of this particular announcement is what has people talking. As DirectFeedGames pointed out, NSO games are typically shadow-dropped the same day they're announced. Nintendo instead chose to reveal DK 64 a full week early, on a date with no Donkey Kong anniversary or related product launch to justify it. The only thing special about May 28 is Harambe.

Whether this is a deliberate nod to meme culture or a wild coincidence, it's the funniest thing Nintendo has done in months. The announcement trailer even uses the DK Rap, Grant Kirkhope's gloriously terrible theme song that has long since transcended its own game. As for DK 64 itself, it's a game I'd describe as historically important rather than great. It holds a Guinness World Record for most collectible items in a platformer, and playing it without save states and rewind in 2026 would be masochistic. But after last year's Donkey Kong Bananza proved Nintendo is serious about the franchise again, having the original 3D DK game accessible on modern hardware fills a real gap in the library. It'll be the first new N64 addition to the service this year.