Halo 3, the final chapter in the groundbreaking Halo trilogy, has been released to manufacturing.

Three years in the making by renowned developer Bungie Studios, Halo 3 is now finished and will begin its journey to store shelves around the world in less than four weeks. Halo 3 has already set new records as the fastest preordered game in history, exceeding one million presales in North America. The title is set to shatter day-one entertainment sales records when it is released worldwide beginning Tuesday, 25th September.

“This is a huge milestone for us and a big cause for celebration at Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios,” said Harold Ryan, Studio Head at Bungie Studios. “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.”

Created by legendary developer Bungie Studios and exclusive to the Xbox 360, Microsoft says Halo 3 will set a new standard for interactive storytelling and social gaming by engaging consumers worldwide in Master Chief’s epic battle to save humankind.

Halo 2, released in 2004, generated a record-setting US$125 million in sales within the first 24 hours. Three years later, it remains the most-played game on Xbox Live, with nearly 1 billion hours of online gaming logged to date.