Call of duty has been announced for November 8. Now EA has been pumping it up like its ON between itself and activison for the number 1 spot. 

If EA is going to make an bang it will have to release before call of duty because the shooter fan masses might remain on call of duty then wait another week for BF3. 

So maybe the thursday before Call of duty or maybe the tuesday and be on the same day as Skrim(like it matters). I think EA will do this too get those shooter causal fans that are in large masses. 

Going up against COD, a possible Halo, and Gears ... not a good idea. Best launching early next year but if they are launching this year, as far away from COD as possible ...

Completely agree with the post above. They are gonna take it hard on sales because of this awkward time of launch

COD will sell to the masses on brand name alone. Xbox owners (who buy the majority of BF's share) will have both Gears 3 and a Halo remake, Xbox's 2 biggest franchises. Plus MS will push COD for their timed exclusive deal.

As for PS3 owners, I don't even know where to start, so many exclusives (Uncharted 3 Resistance 3 anyone?). So yea, I think they would have had better sales if they went for a nicer launch window, similar to BFBC2.

November 1 I say. EA's made it known that they want to go up against Call of Duty and to move it now would make them look like cowards.

Yea, if you want to be the top dog you have to compete with the big boys. They have made it clear they want that top spot, the only way to do it is to face COD head on and start to take some of their sales. They need to force the casual to choose 1 or the other if they want to be the next big shooter. Most people I know who own COD play it as their only game (I know crazy 1 game gamers) so if they already have spent their game cash/time on the next COD they will not buy BF3 down the line they will just wait for the next COD which is sure to be a few months behind. If COD is ever to be broken it will be by a game that goes head to head with it and forces consumers to compare the 2 and stacks up better against it.

BFBC2 would of sold better if it ran in the hoildays but it was going up against MW2 which was hailed as the best Shooter of all time until november 11th and hailed generic shooter 5234. 

i hope they release the game before cod. dice and ea want to go against cod so either put up or shut up..ill be buyin bf anyways. i would love to see how both week one sales and long term sales would be with the two games. 

I'm buying BF3 over CoD if it is released on the same day. But if they want to beat CoD in sales then I would say the earlier the better. Also make sure people know about the game and it should do good in sales.

doesnt matter to me... will buy it for sure but if EA wants to push this game... an early start wont hurt for sure. same day will not work... bulletstrom prove it...

I just saw a the MW3 American teaser on tv advertising how there will be a world premiere May 23rd, during the coverage of the NBA finals.. thats not really here nor there, but they were openly advertising BF3 on tv a month or two ago, which is really Bold.

Lets think about how things will shake out...

If MW3 launches first, everyone will buy it. Less will buy BF3.

If BF3 launches first it will gain a ton of sales, but people will still buy MW3.

I think the name Modern Warfare is now bigger than ever, More casual shooter fans will buy this game than the previous installment imo, but less core fans.

because all indications point to BF3 being the more impressive shooter so far, the new engine basically assures this will stay this way.

They cant back down, they cant waiver and show fear. BF3 is the better product, and EA should strike a deal with PS3 to mirror Microsofts Modern Warfare deal.

There needs to be exclusive content first on PS3 and maybe even a custom PS3 sku, (probably wont happen). This would help Sony, but would help EA more I think.

There are going to be a lot of PS3 owners that feel slightly jaded (just slightly) over the MW deal with Microsoft. This slightness will be turned into a type of vengenance if PS3 has something similar.

These MW fans who feel slighted now have an absolute equally huge game (in many ways) in Battlefield 3.

This will be like WWF vs. WCW back in the day. People will turn against COD.

COD will still break records, but I also think BF3 will be close to MW2 numbers as well.

Yeah I said it, call me crazy but the shooter market will be at an all time high, I think there are enough gamers to essentially double the sales of MW2, (with the two games, MW3-BF3 combined)

Im talking in circles, its never ending madness here... I digress..