According to an unnamed source that spoke to Nintendo Life, Nintendo asked Criterion Games – known for Burnout and Need for Speed – to develop a demo for F-Zero that would be showcased at E3 2011. Unfortunately, due to Criterion developing several versions of Need for Speed Most Wanted at the time, it was unable to commit to working on F-Zero.
Though the source is unknown, the information was confirmed by Criterion Games creative director Alex Ward. It seems Nintendo of Europe did indeed speak to Criterion at the time. Nintendo was apparently quite “hard pressed for time” with the demo. It’s also strange that all these years later and we’re yet to hear about a new F-Zero for the Wii U.
Nintendo has been frequently reaching out to third party developers in the past few years to work on its IPs. Prominent examples include Team Ninja working on Metroid: Other M for the Wii, Omega Force for Hyrule Warriors and Platinum Games for the upcoming Star Fox Zero.