Source: A Joystiq report from the 2009 Game Developers Conference.

　　What we heard: At last year's Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft finally revealed Halo 3: ODST, a new Master Chief-free spin-off of the third installment in the wildly popular sci-fi shooter series. Shortly thereafter, though, the studio--which split away from Microsoft the year prior--said the project was the last piece of Halo 3 content in its pipeline, which includes two other mystery projects.

　　"It's a one-off thing," Bungie.net community lead Brian Jarrard told reporters at TGS.

　　Last week, though, that tune appeared to have changed. At during his Wednesday session titled "Building Your Airplane While Flying: Production at Bungie," producer Allen Murray was quoted by Joystiq as saying, "Halo 3 took two and a half years to make, and we're still working on it…We'll probably be working on it for two more years."

　　The official story: As the weekend landed, Bungie issued a response bluntly reiterating that there are no more Halo 3 projects in its pipeline. Confirming the quote as accurate, the community content writer known simply as "Urk" capped his Friday Update with the following statement:

　　"It's interesting how people come to define what 'working' means. According to the web, that definitely means we're making more maps, another campaign expansion, and maybe even an expansion to our as-yet-unreleased expansion, Halo 3: ODST. Were it so easy. 'Working on Halo 3' could also be defined as ongoing management of the Matchmaking Playlists, swinging the Banhammer as hard and as often as needed, investigating potential exploits, and generally ensuring that the game experience remains positive and entertaining for everyone."

　　"While we've indicated in the past that we don't have plans to deliver more content for Halo 3 beyond the retail launch of Halo 3: ODST, going as far as to call the return to New Mombasa the 'exclamation point' on the Halo 3 experience, that's not a definite 'never.' That said, don't get too excited at the prospect as there are no current plans to make additional content post-ODST. " (Emphasis added.)

　　Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that Bungie is working on any new Halo 3 projects. Not bogus that Murray's comment could have given the impression that the studio was.