Battlefield 3 isn't even in stores yet and it's already getting a discount. Amazon is offering the game at a substantially reduced rate for a limited time.

If you purchase the digital PC version of BF3 through Amazon, it'll cost you a mere $41.99. That's 30% less than you'd have to pay for the Xbox 360, PS3, or boxed PC editions of the game. Pretty good bargain considering that, again, the game's not even out yet.

"You won't be charged until the release day with pre-order," explains Amazon. "On the release day, you will receive an e-mail reminder that your item is available to download. Once you complete the download and enter keys if prompted, your item is ready to use."

Amazon first started offering digital game downloads back in early 2009. They face some pretty big competitors in that space, like GameStop and Direct2Drive, so I guess a discount like this is necessary to help them stand out from the pack.

BF3 will launch in North America on October 25th. You'll be able to start downloading the game through Amazon at 10 AM PST (1 PM EST) on that day.