“it's up to the team when they want to ship [Halo 3], and they're going to take their time to make that a super great product. So even we don't know when that will come out. That's one of many games that are just phenomenal that are in the works, but it's up to the artists to do it when they feel good about it.

Of course most of you already "knew" that Halo 3 is in development, even though Bungie have been tight lipped about the game, and in-directly denying its existence. However, Bill Gates comments clearly confirms that the game is in development. Hardcore Halo fans are of course going to claim that Halo 3 exists only when Bungie themselves say it does, but for the rest of us I think a statement from Bill Gates (like the one above) will do just fine.

The question that is still left unanswered is if Halo 3 is the next game to be released by Bungie. Many are now speculating that Bungie might also be working on a new original project, and being one of the most money strong development studios in the industry, they certainly are capable of developing two games simultaneously if they ever wanted to.

Note: The picture used in this article is not the real Halo 3 box art

Note: Confirmed in development and announced is not the same thing. Halo 3 will most likely be officialy announced for Xbox 360 later this year by Bungie or Microsoft.