Yeah well, not in this case. Look it up
Titanfall 2 arrived on shelves last week with disappointing sales, largely attributed to it's launch between fellow EA …
www.gamesindustry.biz
According to that link, the producer at Respawn straight up had no idea who set the release date. Just that it got locked in after whoever set it did so. That doesn't sound like it came from Respawn. Meanwhile, EAs CEO argued that BF1 and TF2 are for different target audiences, which is why the close release date doesn't matter.
For those unaware, EA made the baffling decision of releasing Titanfall 2 just a week after Battlefield 1, and now ex-Respawn devs comment about it.
mp1st.com
According to that article, the publisher (EA) set the release date.
It just doesn't make sense for the dev to set the release date. They're not the ones at risk of losing money. They're labor. This and marketing is completely in the publishers sandbox. It's their risk. Outside of delays for more dev time, why would the publisher allow the devs to decide the exact date?