Nearly three years after Xbox hit Halo 2 first hit the shelves, Seattle-based developer Bungie has announced that development on the final part of its Halo trilogy is now complete, and that the title has been released to manufacturing.

Halo 3 has already become the most pre-ordered game in history in the US, with over one million copies already sold. Microsoft expects Halo 3 to break all manner of day one and week one sales when it is released on September 25th in North America and a day later in Europe.

“This is a huge milestone for us and a big cause for celebration at Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios,” head of Bungie Studios Harold Ryan stated. “This is the game we’ve always wanted to make and certainly the best game our studio has developed. We can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on it.”