Microsoft: 360 has hit 8 million in EMEA

By Tom Bramwell Published 5 January, 2009

Platform holder claims a 1m lead over PS3.

Microsoft has said that Xbox 360 has sold over 8 million units across Europe, the Middle-East and Africa (EMEA), and claimed this gives it a lead of "more than one million" over its rival, the PlayStation 3.

Although the original release doesn't specifically link the 8 million figure to everyone's favourite double-barreled sales monitor, GfK-ChartTrack, a Microsoft spokesperson has since told us that GfK-CT was the source of all the figures, presumably governed by the press release's explanation for the other references: "Sales figures are Microsoft estimates based upon GfK-ChartTrack data."

It's also worth noting that the EMEA area includes a couple of countries outside Europe itself (South Africa and UAE), but a rival claim from Sony that it was around 300,000 units ahead in PAL territories, also made late last year, would include countries further afield, like Australia. And we do like Australia.

As we reported late last year, Xbox 360 had built up a lead of more than 1 million over PS3 across at least five key territories by this time last month, and Eurogamer has since been told that first-week hardware sales in December were higher than at any point in October or November.

In other words, you can probably trust the numbers, but nobody ever really knows 100 per cent because GfK-ChartTrack keeps them away from the likes of us and you.

For what it's worth, Microsoft's EMEA veep Chris Lewis pointed to September's price drop and retail and publishing partnerships to explain the boost in Christmas 2008 sales, and promised Microsoft would "continue to be committed to offering the right blend of gaming and entertainment experiences at the right price" in "an uncertain economic climate".

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Psychotext #1 3 years ago

    Given GFK / Charttrack don't cover most of EMEA that's probably your answer right there...

  • DFawkes #2 3 years ago

    Sales figures from the manufacturers themselves are always bull, but given the price difference I wouldn't be surprised if they're fairly close to the mark. Still in 2nd though.

  • Rash' #3 3 years ago

    the thing is technically superior than wii and more feature packed, yet is considerably cheaper. they want to talk about PS3 because the truth hurts: they're being creamed the ninty. by my estimation MS are patting themselves on the back for avoiding third.

  • Benno #4 3 years ago

    Its because the 360 has decent games. The PS3 has Uncharted and thats about it, maybe MGS and LBP.

  • Kbone28 #5 3 years ago

    Yeah but cmon, The Wii is for girls in leotards wiggling their hips - not true gamers.
    Fair play to Nintendo for creating a whole new demographic and niche market, but when it comes to real gaming its only going to be about 2 consoles. 360 is beating the PS3 by the games and services its providing whilst keeping true to its fanbase.

  • Ryze #6 3 years ago

    I had no idea that Wu members were now counting console sales!

  • NotSoSlim #7 3 years ago

    Darn it! I guess as i dont have MGS4 LBP or Uncharted my other games must be crap? Shame i enjoy my PS3 more but fair play to MS if the figures are right.

  • Madafunkola #8 3 years ago

    Do we have to go over the same things EVERY month!!!???
    One million is good because it has damaged Sony's dominance in the console market.

  • GitSomE_UK #9 3 years ago

    /Yawn

    /Scratches nuts

  • captain-future #10 3 years ago

    @Umberty - because Europe is traditionally SonyCountry.

    Look at NA, there's a different picture with ca. 5m lead for Xbox 360.

  • drumbaby #11 3 years ago

    But why is the Sony monopoly being broken by a Microsoft console that is broken a good thing?

  • Burkey123 #12 3 years ago

    Why are they so happy about this?
    They're miles behind ninty and they are delighted with 2nd! sony are catching up on them for 2nd spot and sony will probably be 2nd at the end of 09.
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/09 @ 19:19

  • Rash' #13 3 years ago

    i can't see where ms will go from here. no genuinely exciting exclusives to speak of and further price cuts increasingly unlikely. how will they build from here? answers on a postcard. ;o)

    edit. there is one promising innovation in the pipeline; Primetime. i'm curious to see how they deliver on their ambitious plans here.
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/09 @ 19:34

  • IneptPercy #14 3 years ago

    One thing I can't help but think is that nintendo may have shot themselves in the foot in many respects... hear me out.

    Technically the 360/PS3 are the same thing (give or take) and attract gamers who like shiny graphics and bigger games etc

    The wii attracts children and people who like the waggle stick gimmick who don't care about graphics etc

    So when the 720/PS4 come out us gamers will go and buy due to better graphics and bigger games.

    Where does the Wii have to go with the Wii2? better graphics? there fans don't care...

    Basically Nintendo love it now but they are going to have a huge task to get people off there current;y consoles while selling to use who have the dust collecting occasional use Wii's

    As for PS3 vs 360, how much of that is down to pure loyalty (I know many people who didn't really know what the 360 was), if the consoles had there badges swapped then Sony would still have dominance, but instead they delayed it to make it into the blu-ray trojan it is with the arrogance that people will buy it no matter what as its a 'playstation'

    So the fact microsoft have got any lead when you think back to the PS2 vs xbox is amazing.

    Even if the 360 does lose its lead over the PS3 its never going to be by much.

    Basically Microsoft have gained a huge market share and they deserve it.

  • CreepinJesus #15 3 years ago

    "It's also worth noting that the EMEA area includes a couple of countries outside Europe itself"

    You don't say! EMEA = Europe, Middle East, and Africa!

  • the_dudefather #16 3 years ago

    @IneptPercy
    'Basically Microsoft have gained a huge market share and they deserve it.'

    agreed, they really went all out to make a really good machine and service (all throughout the consoles life so far), just a shame about the machine's reliability (although that issue has also improved a bit), but overall it's one of the best consoles I've ever had

    the next incarnation of xbox should hopefully continue with this improvement and hopefully the playstation brand will redeem itself a bit next time around (as there is nothing better to ensure quality than competition ;) ).
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/09 @ 19:34

  • CYBER-WOO #17 3 years ago

    All three of the major console manufacturers need to step it up for the next gen. That will be coming in the next three years or so... X-box 360 - No hdd, no wireless, dvd format, PS3 - crappy amount of ram, evil beast to program for. Wii - The most expensive board game ever!, abandoning their loyal fanbase for a quick profit by flooding the market with poo games.

  • Rash' #18 3 years ago

    the_dudefather, neither ms or sony have posted mass market figures for their console so i think you're being a little presumptuous. 360 has just surpassed the xbox figures and have now jumped into a price war to achieve those figures. neither ninty or sony have entered these business strategies yet so this will be an interesting year in terms of business moves and the results of those business moves.

  • the_dudefather #19 3 years ago

    @Rash'

    I was thinking more about the consoles themselves in general rather than specificly market shares or whatever

  • citizenHUNTER #20 3 years ago

    @IneptPercy
    'Basically Microsoft have gained a huge market share and they deserve it.'


    Most definitely agree as well on this point. They used the first Xbox as a learning ground, meanwhile also setting up several standards that they went on to improve upon for the 360 (surround sound as standard, widescreen as standard, at least 720p as standard and a fully integrated, well thought out online component, even if they do charge to get full use of it). What Microsoft have done with the Xbox is create a solid entertainment experience at a surprisingly affordable cost and it's as good as the PS3 for the ting that counts, the games.

    I've been continually pleasantly surprised by the thoroughness and well thought out approach MS have had in their consoles so far and long may it continue. Plus they took the Dreamcast pad, mixed it with PS and wrapped it up in a beautifully ergonomic shell, love the pad, long may it NOT change, at all :p Better than the absolutely hopeless design of the PS pad (but at least Sony dropped that boomerang idea they were going to inflict upon us.)

    And I'm not a MS fan, but credit where it's due. To do such a good job battling against the Playstation branding behemoth and come out on top is doing well. Sony just seem rather bad at planning things out and execution. MS have been doing a pretty good job keeping promises and not promising what they can't deliver (and delivering quality, ok the reliability issues aren't so good, but when it works it works incredibly well).

  • Rash' #21 3 years ago

    i can't believe people are discussing next gen the current gen has still a long way to go.

  • Rash' #22 3 years ago

    you guys seriously sound like your reading out an obituary. this gen isn't over yet. and microsoft have got to continue to expand their market with compelling content and services. NXE has certainly delivered on the promise of service, but where's the content for this year? where are those compelling exclusives that have served ms so well so far?
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/09 @ 20:09

  • des #23 3 years ago

    Good,
    Mass Effect 2,Lost Odyssey 2,Crackdown 2,Halo something, please...oh and Alan Wake

  • Rash' #24 3 years ago

    mass effect rumoured to go multi while the others are as of this moment unsubstituted. crackdown may never happen if i remember correctly. i'll give you alan wake, but how long has that been coming? (Rumoured to be looking immense though)
    Edited by 2 at 05/01/09 @ 20:33

  • Dizzy #25 3 years ago

    The biggest achievement for MS this gen is that almost all developers support their machine. They can basically go on cruise control and probably achieve 50M consoles by the end of this gen. They will be very happy with that since their fanbase seems to be reasonably loyal as well. The nice thing for them is that they are making money as well this time. Usually MS only really starts killing off competition in version 3.0 of their products. Next gen might be very brutal.

    And we do not need list wars. 360 has plenty of amazing stuff in 2009 (and usually having the best multiplatform stuff anyway).
    Edited by 3 at 05/01/09 @ 20:42

  • Rash' #26 3 years ago

    Dizzy, i'm not asking for a list war i'm asking: where are the games??? if that means lists then yes we need lists. i'm not making comparisons so turn the paranoia off. (oh, and lets get over the "my cock is better than yours" multiplatform debate. the differences are becoming irrelevant)

    edit. i'll be surprised if ms achieve 50 million. not impossible but implausible at this stage. as for killing of the competition. well i hope you are proved wrong there. ms in complete control would spell disaster for us consumers. may competition continue to be rampant for years to come.
    Edited by 2 at 05/01/09 @ 21:06

  • Dizzy #27 3 years ago

    "Dizzy, i'm not asking for a list war i'm asking: where are the games??? "

    Dude... when I check the release list for the 360 there are 100 games on that list (exclusive and multi combined). Plenty of games for any potential buyer. I think you said the last thing last year and we are not even counting XBLA and DLC. The 360 has delivered every year... like I said, almost all devs are supporting the console. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

  • onyxbox #28 3 years ago

    MS have done exceptional to have Sony on the back foot, I do however think that the lead MS have will diminish once the PS3 has a healthy price cut.

    MS need to concentrate on some new (and good IP) that's exclusive to the machine because Sony have pretty much everything (game wise) that 360 has and a nice catalogue of exclusives building up... when the price gets onto a more even footing it will be battle of the games and PS3 IMO is already pulling ahead (please don't quote Gears... massively overrated IMO).

    Sony on the other hand really need to sort out the lack of Party System, cross game chat and unified invite system because anyone moving from 360 to PS3 will feel like they've just gone back 10 years and will soon move back to 360 if they play online a lot... and that will also hurt (*and is doing so) the PS3's popularity.


  • Rash' #29 3 years ago

    Dizzy, seems to me the ride is over if i'm honest. like i said some here sound like their reading an obituary, waiting for the next gen to start. there's very little in the way of exciting new content over the course of the coming year beyond third party and primetime. i suspect your arrogance is a vain attempt at avoiding that fact.

  • Rash' #30 3 years ago

    onyxbox, i completely agree, which is why i've asking for some help. i don't see anything exciting on the horizon first party wise beyond primetime and that's because that's an online service which has been microsoft's ultimate strength. now that the software complements the identity ms want for their box they need to continue to provide the reason people will invest in the system; the games.

    as for sony, the lack of online features, sony will be hoping, is of set by a free service, and if the consumer starts with them then obviously they won't know what they're missing. i don't think the market has been prepared for these online enabled boxes that are best suited to HDTVs. the economical climate has made doubly sure of that.

    i do think this year all that will change and the console manufacturers will go all out on a price war.
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/09 @ 21:43

  • Carlo #31 3 years ago

    How many were tard packs used as replacements for broken 360s?
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/09 @ 21:44

  • mattigan #32 3 years ago

    And 35 posts in, the retards surface.

  • Dizzy #33 3 years ago

    >i suspect your arrogance is a vain attempt at avoiding that fact.

    I like it that you are happily ignoring the sales facts. Software sells on 360. WTF is your obsession with "no exciting" games on 360. This console gave us L4D, Gears 2, Fable and Braid all last few months and it will be the same next year. Two Halo games, exclusive DLC for Fallout, GTA and TR. Shitloads of awesome XBLA. A new game from the Crackdown guys, probably one or two Bioware things (probably exclusive, Bioware does not have a team that develops on anything else), some new stuff from Valve, one or two new Rare games, new Splitercell probably, some more JRPGS like Star Ocean (360 is swimming in them already), Dungeon Hero, Majesty 2, Kingdom Under Fire II, maybe a MMO from Turbine, Champions Online, maybe Allen Wake and Forza 2. How many games do you play a month???? One a month is enough for me. E3 will bring a lot of new stuff. MS doesn't announce games 200 years in advance just to annoy people like you.

    Oh and yes... maybe MY XBLA game :) (then again it might be iPhone first)

    And Divinity 2 – Ego Draconis, one of my friends works on that one and they have no PS3 dev kit so...
    Edited by 5 at 05/01/09 @ 22:23

  • Dizzy #34 3 years ago

    "This may be doable on the basis that the presence of a HD encourages transactions on Live, but its still a bad expense as small hard-drives aren't cost-efficient due to them being basically obsolete in the PC market. "

    True... there is also the rumor that the next big update of the dash might offer centralized storage of a few GB for save games and small fry stuff.

  • onyxbox #35 3 years ago


    Gears of war 2 was boring, Braid (demo) was pretentious bullshit wrapped up in 16bit Amiga graphics and I've yet to play Fable II (god I hope it's as good as everyone makes out).

    360 has great games but lets be honest here...most of the reasons to own one weren't the semi-exclusives it had but the fact that it's the cheapest way to play all those great 3rd party cross platform games.

  • CunningLinguist #36 3 years ago

    The difference in online service is smaller than it was a year ago, the 360 has a lot of games and it's a great piece of hardware (minus the noise) but for me personally it will never do. I look at an Xbox and I see J Allard's retarded face, Peter Moore's scoundrel inspired mustache, and the biggest douches of them all Steve Ballmer and Cliffy B. I like the fact that the PS3 is quiet, plays Blu-Rays and has free online (which is better than most might think). So yeah, enjoy your games as you will but it is my humble opinion that MS shot its wad a bit early in the race. That's just me speaking as an averagely informed gamer.
    But I do agree that the PS3 needs a price cut if they want to make it to the end of this race. Oh and deep inside I think some 360 only users wished they had a PS3 instead. Again that's just speculation on my side. I for one never longed for the 360 despite the fact that all my friends have it. I guess it all comes down to taste, and the lack there of.
    Edited by 1 at 05/01/09 @ 23:43

  • Carlo #37 3 years ago

    QUOTE" I've yet to play Fable II (god I hope it's as good as everyone makes out). "

    It's brilliant, but a VERY buggy game... Game breaking bugs :(

    [link url=http://ww w.n4g.com/xbox360/News-221000.aspx
    ]http://ww w.n4g.com/xbox360/News-221000.a...[/link]
    Edited by 2 at 05/01/09 @ 23:53

  • Rash' #38 3 years ago

    Dizzy, that list you offered reads like a load of what ifs, with nothing remotely concrete. you know what i see? i see bioware and bizarre allowed to be bought by EA and activision, bungie allowed to leave and ensemble disbanded. i see the core of ms's firsty party operation in disarray. in a climate where rising development costs makes platform specific third party games improbable, ms appears to be failing it's responsibility to deliver first party content that shapes the identity of it's brand and speaks to its audience.

    i'm not disputing the quality that has gone, but if all the certainties you have are exclusive DLC for games you bought 6 months to a year ago then you have to wonder.

    last year at E3 ms showed of mostly third party core titles and first party casual 'ware! what will it be this year? that level of uncertainty wouldn't reassure me.

    the battle for the hearts and minds of the consumer will be won through a range of diverse exclusives, not the strength of your online features.

  • Yossarian #39 3 years ago

    Rash' is on some propaganda tip in this thread.

  • flippet #40 3 years ago

    You know what I see? I see "it's" that should be "its" everywhere, and each time it's like a knife-stab to the heart.

    Please stop stabbing me.
    That is all.

  • Dizzy #41 3 years ago

    "Gears of war 2 was boring, Braid (demo) was pretentious bullshit wrapped up in 16bit Amiga graphics and I've yet to play Fable II (god I hope it's as good as everyone makes out). "

    Yea yea... you are cool and awesome. Must be awesome to be you. Being an awesome minority is very special. Treasure it well.

  • des #42 3 years ago

    @Rash'

    Too bad that i don't give a shit about game being exclusive or multi on 100 different platforms,only thing that i care about is how good the game is for me.



    But back on the topic,Sony era in Europe has ended,Nintendo has taken the crown and MS is eating potential PS3 buyers,Nintendo is untouchable for anyone.

  • onyxbox #43 3 years ago

    Yea yea... you are cool and awesome. Must be awesome to be you. Being an awesome minority is very special. Treasure it well.

    Oh dear.

  • Amoebalove #44 3 years ago

    wow a list that would even make apolo blush!

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #45 3 years ago

    +100 Farty

  • Sp3ct3r #46 3 years ago

    owned

  • IneptPercy #47 3 years ago

    Now that is shot down...

    Quite rightly too...

    Do like how this thread started with intelligent debate...

  • Calgon #48 3 years ago

    I cant beleive the idiocy and double standards... "the ride is almost over" lol

    Where was he the last 2 or 3 years then?(in panic because it was the end of the PS3?) There will be plenty this year from MS and to be honest I find the "big impressive list" of PS3 exclusives this year a little underwhelming. Its deja vu for non PS3 owners its becoming a bit of a funny joke now with this annual tradition from Sonyfans at the start of the year telling everyone how its going to be all Sony from here on and the end of year goading from cooler 360 owners asking "what the **** were you on guy? :D... Sooo glad I went with the 360 ;)".
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 16:24

  • IneptPercy #49 3 years ago

    I do agree actually there is many exclusives on the PS3 I want to play and some great bargains.

    But there just isn't enought o justify the £299.99 price tag.

    I will admit this is my personal situation, but I get the feeling I am not alone.