Rumors circulated in various forums, and an individual claimed to have been told by an anonymous Bungie employee via AIM instant message that Phoenix had been cancelled and an announcement would shortly be made.

Matt Soell responded both to email inquiries from Rampancy as well as with this forum post at HBO:

Here are the facts: the game formerly known as Phoenix has indeed been shelved. The consensus was that we could finish the game but we would not be happy with the result. If the team didn't think they'd enjoy the game as designed, they could not seriously expect others to enjoy it. They want to ship nothing less than a great game; in this case that meant starting anew. They are already pouring their efforts into a new project. The team is excited again, and that's a good thing.

Phoenix is dead, long live Phoenix.