for download preorders
they can work on till the last second
put a patch in the game before release to fix bugs whatever
so we dont have to download a patch
DVD copies they cant

download sites may not finish getting the final version till seconds
before countdown hit 0

will just have to wait and see

its VERY RARE that steam will do a 12am realease
they will do it for steam only games/valve games all the time
for ea games though i dont think ive had a pre load
i know activision they do it at times
all depends if they get the say so from ea/crytek

i wonder if you know someone working in walmarkt and they give you a copy some hours before, if the servers are already up i think they are, would be cool to be one of the 1st ones before the masses start getting it

actually the cd-keys are probably looked out before release time, so it would not work

Some people who preodered the game on DVD have already had it shipped to them. There is an online validation that won't go through yet due to it not being the release date yet. My guess is though after midnight 12:00:01 on the 22nd they will be able to play.