Bungie has stated that Halo: Reach will likely be its last Halo title for Xbox 360, while suggesting that a publishing deal for the studio's secret, non-Halo title is "close" to being agreed.

Asked if it would be safe to assume that Halo: Reach would be the developer’s last Halo game for the Xbox 360 platform, the title’s senior designer Lars Bakken told CVG: “In terms of a platform for Halo games made by Bungie, yes. I can’t answer that question for Microsoft though. Whether they have something in the works or not, I don’t know if they’re actually ready to talk about it yet, but in terms of Bungie-produced Halo games, ODST and then Reach is probably all you’re going to get.”

Halo: ODST is due for release this September, while Halo Reach, which was announced in early June, will ship in autumn 2010.

In a separate interview with Eurogamer, Bakken said that the studio’s secret, non-Halo game is still not signed to a publisher, although he suggested a deal isn’t far off.

"I think internally we'll know sometime soon," he said. "I don't handle these things, but I'd imagine we're going to know way before we make the public announcement of who's handling that! But sure, I think those talks are, I guess, close."

It has also been revealed to Joystiq that Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson’s Halo project is no longer in the works.

“That Halo project is no longer happening, it sort of collapsed when the movie didn't end up happening,” Jackson said.

Microsoft confirmed earlier this week that it has established a new division, 343 Industries, to oversee all Halo projects going forward, including a newly announced series of short anime films and an Xbox Live destination called Halo Waypoint.