The European Commission, who earlier this month approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, has said PlayStation sells four times more consoles than Xbox in Europe.
A speech spotted by Eurogamer from European Commission executive vice president Margrethe Vestager indicates that Sony’s console is currently significantly outperforming Microsoft’s in the region.
Vestager was discussing why the European Commission approved the Activision Blizzard deal, noting that both companies’ presence in Europe wasn’t high enough to warrant concern.
“The overall market share for Microsoft and Activision was generally low in Europe,” she said. “It’s only when you look at specific segments like shooter games that you get to above 20%.
“And for consoles, Sony sells about four times more PlayStations than Microsoft sells Xboxes. With this context, we did not think the merger raised a vertical issue.”
It’s worth noting the exact metrics used to reach this four to one number are unclear, meaning it could even factor in every console ever released by Sony and Microsoft. That being said, it more likely refers to a contemporary number, perhaps looking at sales over the last few years or just that of this generation.
Vestager was also talking about market share in Europe, meaning the four to one figure may not represent worldwide console sales. This somewhat reflects a Eurogamer report from 2017 that said the PlayStation 4 was three times more popular than the Xbox One in Europe, according to Sony.
Microsoft has been very quiet about its console sales, however, not giving any updates on the Xbox Series’ performance so far. Sony has done the opposite, giving regular sales updates for the PS5 including that it recently crossed the 38 million mark.
Sony also looks to break PlayStation records by selling more consoles than ever before this year, and expects the PS5 to begin outpacing its predecessor by the end of 2023.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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