Battlefield 3 Release Date Revealed

Battlefield 3 has quickly become one of this years most anticipated titles of 2011 - wowing fans with jaw dropping visuals and promises of gameplay that will take down modern shooter franchise Call of Duty. With a tentative fall release no one was expecting to hear anything about an official date until E3, at the earliest, but an EA slip up may have blown the surprise early.

According to French site Jeux Video Network, EA's download manager may have accidentally given away the date. When using the manager to pre-order Battlefield 3, some were treated to a November 2, 2011 release date.

There's a lot of credence to an early November release - since the last few Call of Duties have all been released at that time. Not to mention, with DICE publicly slamming the opposition, it's likely enough that the studio will target a similar release window. After all, what better way to challenge the current reigning champ than to release at the same time?

JVM dropped an image as proof of the claim - though with it being April Fool's Day, it's unclear whether or not the rumor is legit.

Battlefield 3 Release Date Screenshot EA Download Manager

The Battlefield 3 hype train is in full swing, and rather than make fans wait arbitrarily, each Fault Line video has announced the date of the next big reveal. From the first episode to the second, to the third, this has remained true, and currently fans are waiting on April 17 to get a big 12 minute video which - will likely combine the first three Fault Line trailers and some new gameplay footage (which includes a city-wide earthquake).

Featuring destructible environments, courtesy of DICE's extremely powerful Frostbite 2.0 game engine, Battlefield 3 still has to prove it can topple current reigning FPS franchise Call of Duty. Activision is still keeping its cards to itself while three of its developers work away on a Call of Duty game that it hopes to release this fall -- and which is widely expected to be the highly anticipated sequel, Modern Warfare 3.

A Modern Warfare 3 reveal is rumored to be coming our way sometime this month and, despite the franchise's reputation, it will still have to be something special to shut down the Battlefield 3 hype. That said, industry analyst Michael Pachter has recently gone on record saying that Battlefield 3 has no prayer of toppling Call of Duty. He continued by saying that its possible both franchises will see growth this year as the number of gamers playing first person shooters has grown significantly in the last few years.

Whether or not you're a believer, Battlefield 3 has shown that its going to make a big splash, regardless of its success in attempting to become the number one shooter. Do you think a November release is a wise decision for the Call of Duty competitor?

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Battlefield 3 is possibly due on November 2, 2011 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, but so far the only real confirmation is a fall deadline.

Source: Jeux Video Network