EA has dated the release of its anticipated expansion to the hugely popular PC FPS Crysis – and the surprise news is that Europeans will get access on September 12th, four full days ahead of those in North America.

That’s according to Joystiq, who also reports that the title will be available as a download direct from EA for $5 less than it will cost in the shops.

“We think Crysis Warhead is going to offer a tremendous experience to a wide range of gamers,” Crytek CEO and president Cevat Yerli stated.

“Fans of Crysis are going to enjoy more of the open-ended gameplay, cutting-edge visuals and huge, epic battles from the first game, while also finally finding out what kind of havoc Psycho was wreaking on the other side of the island."

Crysis Warhead is developed by Crytek, the team behind the original PC outing for the now Ubisoft-owned Far Cry. The expansion sees players take control of a popular character from the first game, Sergeant Sykes, in a narrative that runs parallel to the original adventure.