One of the biggest games of 2011 could be one that we haven't heard a lot about yet. It's Battlefield 3, the next big game in the Battlefield shooter franchise from developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts. In a new chat with IndustryGamers, EA CEO John Riccitiello gave a little color on the game's release date window.

In a chat about EA's efforts to take some of the market share away from Activision and its Call of Duty franchise, Riccitiello stated, " ... next year we'll make a lot more progress. We've got a couple of third-party games in the form of Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm, and then our big focus is Battlefield 3 in the second half of the year. I'd be shocked if we didn't take a notch out of [Activision]." He added that Battlefield 3 is "designed to be the one that is the big leap forward; the one that is going to help a lot" in terms of competing with the Call of Duty franchise.

Riccitiello also took some time to knock the efforts of Treyarch with its recently released Call of Duty Black Ops. He stated, "I think it's far from proven that the gaming consumer views a product from Treyarch in the same category as a product from what was (Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 developer) Infinity Ward."