Nintendo wanted Metroid Prime: Federation Force at New 3DS launch

Coming from an IGN interview with Producer Kensuke Tanabe...

"Well, first I would say that the focus on the battle between the Federation Forces and the Space Pirates was an idea I had since I was involved in Metroid Prime 3. It's similar to with Metroid Prime Hunters, how we relied on NST [Nintendo Software Technology] to do that. Hunters deals with the relationships between the bounty hunters besides Samus in the world of Metroid. We wanted to make something that would show the fight between the Federation and the Space Pirates, but there was no company that would make that for us. In making this game we initially intended it to launch alongside the New Nintendo 3DS, but we were a bit late in doing that. The team who's schedule was free at the time was Next Level Games, and so we turned to them."