User blog comment:D. Cello/Assassinews 02/16 -- AC3 date released/@comment-76.241.76.1-20120219140814/@comment-4061157-20120220221702

If they release the game then, they will miss out on the whole Christmas shopping season. They want these games out before Black Friday, when people usually start buying gifts for Christmas. The Christmas shopping season and Black Friday are the reasons why most big games come out in October and November. I would also bet they are pushing up the release of AC3 by a couple of weeks to get out before Call of Duty.