Halo 3 has surged ahead of not just one but two Call of Duty titles to become the most played AAA videogame on Xbox Live, according to data presented by Major Nelson, one of the most important sources of news when it comes to the Xbox 360.

Xbox Live is a very crowded game service, offering those who pay for an Xbox Live Gold subscription a chance to play multiplayer matches against anyone in the world. Halo 3 has been a favorite game for multiplayer ever since launch, but recently its dominance has been challenged by Call of Duty: Modern War, a game that offers a lot of unlockables and awards for those interested in multiplayer action.

Now, Call of Duty: World at War, the newly released World War II game from Treyarch and Activision, is also proving popular, because it has the same gameplay foundations for multiplayer as Call of Duty 4. Still, Halo 3 has managed to be more popular than both Activision games, although it remains to be seen which one will keep its position.

Gears of War 2, which is incredibly fun to play in the Horde multiplayer mode, is in fourth place and GTA IV is also seeing a lot of people playing at number five. Left 4 Dead is at number seven, not surprising considering that it has been built from the ground up for cooperative multiplayer, while two sports games, Madden NFL 09 and FIFA 09, are at number eight and nine, respectively.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix tops the Arcade titles popularity charts, after going over 250,000 copies sold in one month. Bomberman Live and A Kingdom for Keflings hold the second and third positions. Halo 2 is the most popular Original Xbox title, followed by Star Wars: Battlefront 2.