Destiny, Halo developer Bungie's upcoming massively multiplayer first-person shooter, is on track for its Sept. 9 release, and those creating it have the game's "final approach" in their sights.

According to a post by community manager Eric "Urk" Osborne, that means that the studio knows what must be done to complete the game during the next several months. Destiny is running in a pre-alpha state, with two milestones to follow before its release.

"Pre-Alpha itself is just a beginning," Osborne wrote. "It leads us into Alpha proper, and you into Beta, but it's already keeping us up late into the night. Though we're bleary-eyed and exhausted with the day-to-day challenge of keeping Destiny ON TRACK, the tiny sampling offered by our Pre-Alpha is already hugely motivating. For many of us, especially those who have never had the opportunity to see what it's like to ship a new IP, it's been downright monumental — a testament to what this team is truly capable of and the foundation, we hope, for a game experience we can all feel proud to put our name on and shout, 'I made that!'"

The Destiny beta is scheduled for this summer, where it will arrive first on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. The public beta will also be available on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and you can gain access by pre-ordering the game.

For more on Destiny, you can read Polygon's E3 in-depth interview with its developers. Polygon also visited Bungie recently, so be sure to check back next Monday for our impressions and news about the game.