EA has announced that Battlefield 3 pre-orders are up some 700% on those for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the most recently released title in the wider Battlefield franchise. While not related to the Bad Company spin-off series in any way except that the core gameplay is very similar, Battlefield 3 is destined to go head to head with the inevitable Call of Duty offering from Activision in the pre-holiday season this year.

"We know we have a big competitor, but head-to-head with Call of Duty in Q3, we have the superior game engine, a superior development studio, and a flat-out superior game," said Frank Gibeau, president of EA. "Our goal is to significantly gain share in the huge FPS category and to put the other team on defence."