Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was directed by Hideo Kojima and Shuyo Murata. It was developed by Kojima Productions exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and was designed around the motto, "No Place to Hide!" Ryan Payton stated that Metal Gear Solid 4 is the final canonical Metal Gear game to feature Solid Snake as the main character. The game was released worldwide on June 12, 2008, exactly 10 years after Metal Gear Solid and 20 years after the North American release of Metal Gear. Metal Gear Solid 4 has received widespread critical acclaim, earning Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications, including GameSpot, which hailed the game as technically flawless. Since its release, more than 4.33 million copies of the game have been shipped. On June 16, 2009, a little more than a year after the game's initial release, Metal Gear Solid 4 was re-released under the Greatest Hits banner.