Konami has pledged that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will not be sneaking into the hands of customers early – and that there will be plenty of stock to satisfy the 'phenomenal' demand for the title.

UK general manager for Konami Pete Stone made the statements to MCV following continued controversy at retail that saw Wii Fit drop out of the All-Format Charts due to stock deficiencies, plus the well-publicised cases of broken street dates for Grand Theft Auto IV.

“We pride ourselves on working closely with retailers and have a continuation of the signed agreement system we used so successfully before,” said Stone.

“All major retailers are supplying written agreements that they will honour the street date no matter what, making it a level playing field across the board. We all want the game to be a huge success, and for everyone to benefit from this release.”

Stone also commented on stock for the triple-A title: “With demand for MGS4 at such a high level, I am delighted to confirm that we are continually manufacturing stock to meet the phenomenal demand. We want to make sure that everyone gets a good allocation of what is the key PS3 title of the year.”

MGS4 will be released for PS3 on June 12th.