I say 2019 will be the year,definitely

Idk fighting against Sony in Europe would just be fighting a losing battle.

All of Nintendo's handhelds, Wii and now Switch have been moderate to huge hits in Europe but they are/were different enough that they dont compete head on with PS home consoles, the same cannot be said for Xbox.

360 did very well in Europe but alot of that was due to Sony shooting themselves in the foot in the first few years of PS3. If you have to rely on your competition to fail in order to succeed than you're not in a good position.

Im pretty sure ive read that EA has a legal obligation to release FIFA on any device where it financially makes sense to be on so MS cant just get FIFA as an exclusive and even if they could it would cost such a huge amount since FIFA sells so much more on PS.

Im not saying they cant improve their standing in places like Europe or South America but in order to gain serious ground they need 1 of 2 things to happen.

1. Change the philosphy of Xbox entirely so its not a direct competitor to PS that can co-exist like GB, DS, Wii or Switch.

2. Hope that Sony fucks up big while not making any major mistakes and steal a decent chunk of their fanbase like 360.

I think it will in early 2020.

Europe and Others are their best chances for any growth considering Japan. With US, they seem to be guaranteed 20m on any console with their first party lineup and holiday strategy. Of course they will need something to stand apart from Sony, but they could also try heavy advertising, and more games suited for the audience instead of US. I live in the US so I don't actually know the situation in Europe, but here they advertise as much as Sony if not more. But I think they advertise less in Europe thus I think the same budget as Sony allocates to Europe could be quite impactful.

Admittably Sea of Thieves, Tomb Raider, and Sunset Overdrive were good attempts for Europe compared to the FPS, but they all didn't sell well enough. A good seller in Europe is needed, they just need to find what it is.

Not going to happen unless Sony cocks up, EU is a solid region for the PS brand of consoles as it was the first brand that managed EU well and still does most people in EU will tend to buy the go to brand and nothing else that tries to compete with it you need more than advertising over here you need a powerful library people can't get else where  (I'm not talking about a few game I main an entire library of hits) or establish your own identity like Nintendo did.

MS have tried to show themselves as another Sony and doesn't work in EU only region you might have some success is UK which has often been a random part of the PAL region in itself.

More advertising can certainly help but to what extent? I dont think people will all of a sudden pick XB over PS just because its advertised more.

Also, what exactly is "a game for Europe"? Outside of FIFA, i cant think of a game that does significantly better in Europe compared to America.

Unless something drastic happens to Nintendo then yes the Switch will outsell the XBOX ONE.

Library is the obvious answer, but it doesn't seem to be happening so all I suggest is that they split up their NA and EU budget more equally like Sony does. Though I really don't know the specifics.

Same as above, I just think a more balance approach is better.

There are slight differences, they aren't big but they do exist. For example an NA game to me is old God of War or Resistance, and most of MS franchises like Halo, Gears of War (TPS but too gritty/ violent for EU), and Titanfall. With new God of War I think it is a clear strategy to appeal more to Sony's big european fanbase, while still appeasing its NA fanbase.

An EU game is more like Platformers like Ratchet and Clank or Sly Cooper and Sunset Overdrive, Open World like most popular games these days, Racing like GTS and Forza, and TPS instead of FPS. Horizon Zero Dawn was a clear attempt imo at the European fanbase over NA.

Sea of Thieves is more EU because it was made by Rare and is fairly open, Tomb Raider was MS's answer to Uncharted which is balanced between EU and US, Sunset Overdrive was trying to mimic Sony's minor successes with 3rd person platformers like Ratchet and Clank imo. Ryse would have been good post pricecut/ dekinect rather than at launch with its incredibly poor sales in EU. MS could also try for region specific games like Invizimals.

In other words Sony has been filling the gaps that 3rd parties may miss, while MS tend to amplify what 3rd parties do, with some attempts as said earlier at EU.

Sell through or not but Nintendo is planning to ship 25 - 30 million switches in 2018.

so yes it will comfortably outsell the Xbox one.

Nintendo has yet to give an official forcast for this fiscal year and will not until their quarterly financial meeting later this month. The 25-30 million figure you are referring to was a just a rumor.