http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/ps3-vs-xbox-360-whos-really-winning-europe/?biz=1

Earlier this month Sony Computer Entertainment Europe chief David Reeves happily announced that over five million units of PS3 hardware have been sold across Europe, allowing the console to surge past Microsoft's Xbox 360 despite the 360's 16-month head start in the region. In an interview with Wired, however, Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim seemed to dispute those numbers.

Moreover, when GameDaily BIZ contacted Microsoft, a spokesperson told us that Xbox 360, not PS3, is in the lead: "In Europe, our hardware sales have doubled in the wake of GTA IV, and we remain the number one next-generation console in Europe. We do not disclose our internal sales data, but our figures show we enjoy a comfortable lead against PlayStation 3 in the region. We lead not only in console sales but also in software sales: overall European performance is excellent with a 7.0 game attach rate that beats the competition (3.8 PS3, 3.5 Wii), and we enjoy 39% of the market in terms of life-to-date revenue. Gamers prefer games on Xbox 360 – just look at GTA IV, where the Xbox 360 version outsold the PS3 version by 20%."

So Microsoft continues to claim a "comfortable lead" and yet when we reached out to Sony, the company maintained that the PS3 was winning. Perhaps what it really comes down to is the definition of Europe?

Here's what a Sony rep told us, "The statement was based on the fact that cumulative sales of PS3 in Europe since its launch now exceed the cumulative sales of Xbox 360 in Europe since their launch, despite Xbox 360 having had a 16 month lead on PS3. Europe means the whole of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia. SCEE sources its market data from official sources such as ChartTrack and Gfk, from their retailers and from a variety of additional sources. SCEE has been using the same methodology for the last 10 years or so."

We continue to press both companies and we'll let you know if we ever get a real answer that straightens this mess out.

Not surprising. Europeans love the PlayStation and not so much the Xbox.

ps3 will be ahead later this year in EU. i like the microsoft attach figures spin

Who's really winning in Europe?

The Wii.

I am European and i am loving the XBOX360...

Do you really think that struggling to surpass an antagonist who didn't exist in the past, is a victory? The biggest market in Europe, UK, is 360 oriented. I know that there is a balance hardware wise, but in terms of sw, the british audience, prefer their 360's. Winning Spain France and Italy, sorry brothers, nothing new here. Not to mention Greece where people believe that gaming console=Playstation (too much Champions League I guess) I know a lot of people here in Greece who paid 650 euros just to play Pro Evolution, and they didn't even know that there is a console that runs the game much better and costs 200 euros less. Bad for them I guess.

And yes, the winner is Wiiiii!

 Damn you and your truth.

 the uk isnt 360 orientated anymore. I can remember the chart track figures stating that in 2008 ps3 outsold xbox every week.  

Does it really matter? I believe they're pretty close to each other, whatever close means in this case. ATM Sony is selling more anyway so there's currently no doubt of which one is going to be the bigger one in Europe this year.

"In Europe, our hardware sales have doubled in the wake of GTA IV, and we remain the number one next-generation console in Europe. We do not disclose our internal sales data, but our figures show we enjoy a comfortable lead against PlayStation 3 in the region. We lead not only in console sales but also in software sales: overall European performance is excellent with a 7.0 game attach rate that beats the competition (3.8 PS3, 3.5 Wii), and we enjoy 39% of the market in terms of life-to-date revenue. Gamers prefer games on Xbox 360 – just look at GTA IV, where the Xbox 360 version outsold the PS3 version by 20%."

It seems they are talking about WW figures and also just UK figures where GTA360 outsold GTAPS3 by 20%. Now we look at Sony PR.

"The statement was based on the fact that cumulative sales of PS3 in Europe since its launch now exceed the cumulative sales of Xbox 360 in Europe since their launch, despite Xbox 360 having had a 16 month lead on PS3. Europe means the whole of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia. SCEE sources its market data from official sources such as ChartTrack and Gfk, from their retailers and from a variety of additional sources. SCEE has been using the same methodology for the last 10 years or so."

 This is interesting, they are including every other market apart from NA and Japan in which they claim to outsold 360. Well what to believe? I think going by latest figures of shipped consoles PS3 is 6.15 million units behind 360 so we should wait another 2 months before we can be sure of anything.