Criterion was approached to make a launch F-Zero U (UPDATE: It was just an e-mail)

[Bofferbrauer]

TomaTito said:

That was launch, but what happened after the release of NFS:MW?
After Criterion ported the WiiU version, where was the follow up pitch?
No other studios to try?

Since Criterion is part of EA, I doubt they would have been allowed to create a Wii U game after Febuary 2013, where EA stopped all projects for the Wii U.

Why they didn't ask another developer afterwards is another question, but it might be that they where looking into studios with experience into racing games, and there ain't too many out there who do so. And the withdrawal of Ubisoft, Atari and Activision surely didn't help, either.

Considering how Fast Racing Neo looked in the Treehouse, I'd say they should ask Shin'en since both games are fairly similar in their concepts