It should come as no real surprise, but Microsoft has announced that Halo 3 is the undisputed king of games when it comes Xbox Live. The Xbox Live Director of Programming, the unlikely sounding Major Nelson, has revealed that when it comes to the games that were being played online on Xbox Live during the whole of last year, nothing could come close to Halo 3 in terms of unique users playing the game. Or being killed in the game, of course.

There are some surprises in the top twenty most played games of 2008 list though, not least the double Gears of War whammy at 4 and 5, beating Call of Duty: World At War into 6th place. It is a shame that I have not been made aware of the actual numbers behind the placings, as it would be kind of interesting to see just how many people played, or how many hours were spent playing, the likes of the Too Human demo at the bottom of the table when compared to Halo 3 at the top.

Here's the full chart anyway:

1. Halo 3
2. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare
3. GTA IV
4. Gears Of War 2
5. Gears of War
6. Call Of Duty: World At War
7. Guitar Hero III
8. Battlefield: Bad Company Demo
9. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Demo
10. Rock Band
11. Fable 2
12. Mirror's Edge Demo
13. Madden NFL 09
14. BF: Bad Company
15. Rainbow Six Vegas 2
16. UNO
17. Castle Crashers
18. COD: World at War Multiplayer Beta
19. Forza Motorsport 2
20. Too Human Demo