As we get closer to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X launches, the heat between rivals Sony and Microsoft inevitably goes up a notch. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, to find Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, sneakily throwing a jab at Microsoft for its massive spending sprees (chiefly, the $7.5 billion in cash spent to acquire Bethesda's parent company, Zenimax) to bolster its first-party roster of studios. Here's the relevant quote from an interview published yesterday on GamesIndustry, where Ryan highlighted the virtue of growing Sony Worldwide Studios organically instead.

　　It's probably not widely appreciated or understood, to what extent that we have grown our own game development capability organically over the course of this generation. Obviously, it's been helped by the acquisition of Insomniac, and it's wonderful to have them as part of the family. I would just invite anybody to look at the launch window line-up of the PlayStation 4 generation or PlayStation 3 generation and compare it to what we are going to bring in the equivalent phase of PlayStation 5. There's just no comparison.

　　That is the fruit of not massive spending sprees, but of very, very steadily, carefully planned organic growth. Probably the best example I give... I could obviously talk about Naughty Dog, but they've always been making great games. But let's talk about Ghost of Tsushima, which has been a critical delight and certainly a commercial delight to an extent that we didn't think it would be. That speaks volumes to the work that Sucker Punch has done to build on their previous canon of work.

　　We are lucky enough to have five or six studios who fall into that category... But it isn't luck, because we've been working on this for years and years. Very quietly, in a very PlayStation way, we've been building something quite special with these studios. You can do it with frenzied acquisition, or measured acquisition, or you can do it organically.

　　The PS5 is due November 12th in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and November 19th elsewhere in the world, while the Xbox Series S and X will launch globally on November 10th. Did you reserve one yet? Let us know in the comments!