Criterion Games working on a Need For Speed game wasn't the only surprising bit of news that Electronic Arts chief operating office John Pleasants tucked into his presentation at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference I listened to today. Pleasants confirmed he's seen DICE's work on Battlefield 3.

"I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden and was highly impressed by the way the team is working on that product," he said. "Of course, that's not [coming out] in the fiscal year, but that is a product that is looking very good."

Gamers worried that Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield 1943 were a three-pronged answer to fans demanding a third Battlefield don't have to worry. Battlefield 3 is coming!

We have also gotten information from a tipster that Battlefield 3 will be similar to Battlefield 2 and will support up to 40 players per team. There will also be 24 different vehicles that you can choose from and 17 different weapons. Like Battlefield 2, the game will also feature unlockable equipment.

So when will Battlefield 3 be released? The time isn't known but EA says not this year. We also heard that it would be the holiday season in 2010, however like with many of the other Battle field installments we'll probably get an early one map beta that can be played free a few months before. We're speculating that we'll see a Battlefield 3 Beta download in the Summer of 2010. However, nobody knows for sure.