Which company developed Donkey Kong Country Returns?

Retro Studios developed Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Released for Wii in 2010, the game revived the Donkey Kong Country platforming series after Rare’s earlier trilogy and Donkey Kong 64. Retro Studios was already known for the Metroid Prime series, and Nintendo selected the Austin-based developer to bring Donkey Kong back to side-scrolling platforming.

Nintendo published the game, which is the source of a common mix-up: Nintendo is the publisher and owner of the franchise, but Retro Studios is the original game’s developer. Rare, the studio behind the classic Super Nintendo trilogy, was not involved because Microsoft had acquired it in 2002.

The original Wii version was later ported to Nintendo 3DS by Monster Games and remastered for Switch by Forever Entertainment. Those later versions have different developers, but they do not change the answer for the original Donkey Kong Country Returns.