PS3 has outsold Xbox 360 in Europe

SCEE boss David Reeves has told the audience at the PlayStation Day conference that Sony is beating Microsoft in the console battle - in Europe, at least.

"I am delighted to be able announce today that we have sold more PlayStation 3s throughout Europe than Xbox 360 - even though they launched sixteen months before PS3," he said.

More than 5 million PS3 consoles have now been shifted in Europe, according to Reeves. "We are particularly proud of this as it has been achieved in a similar time frame as PlayStation 2 which retailed, if you remember, at a significantly lower price," he said.

Referring to Xbox 360, Reeves said Sony's machine has been outselling its closest competitor since October 2007, despite the latest price cut. He offered no comment on sales of the Wii.

Reeves also said 12 million PSP handhelds and 48 million PS2s have been sold in Europe. He added, "These numbers are a testament to the strength of the PlayStation brand throughout our region, the ever-increasing number of titles being launched, the rich content on offer and its appeal to different demographics and cultures."

Other stats revealed at the event included the fact that 3.2 million gamers have now registered on PlayStation Network, and more than 57 million items of content have been downloaded from the PlayStation Store.

Sales of EyeToy games have now reached 6.7 million, while for Buzz! the figure is 6 million and for SingStar it's 12 million. On average, each SingStar PS3 owner has paid for and downloaded six additional songs.

Reeves said new global hardware sales figures will be revealed in Tokyo next week. He reiterated that by the end of 2007 more than 10.5 million PS3s, 34 million PSPs and 127 million PS2s had been sold around the world.

So what's helped PS3 reach the 5 million mark in Europe? It's all about "the quality of the software", reckons Reeves. "And now with exclusive titles such as Haze, LBP, Resistance, MotorStorm, customers are buying into PS3 as the ultimate gaming system."