PS3 breaks 1m sales barrier in PAL territories

Lisa Foster Today, 8:45am

SCEE boss David Reeves talks exclusively to MCV

Sony has spoken exclusively to MCV this week about its robust PlayStation 3 launch – offering an official sales update and a unique insight into its software strategy for Q4.

The console was launched on March 23rd and has sailed past the one million milestone in Europe and other PAL territories in under ten weeks.

David Reeves, SCEE president, chose MCV to stress that the figure is for sell-through rather than sell-in and hugely impressive in a historical context. “Early last week we went through the one million mark on PS3. And we did that in nine and a half weeks,” he confirmed.

“That was faster than both PS2 and PSOne. And I think that the analysts out there will also realise that it’s faster than our brothers and sisters in the competitive world.”

In terms of software sales, Reeves claimed that around two million units of first party software have been sold into the channel, with Resistance: Fall of Man notching up around 600,000 units and Motorstorm edging past the 500,000 mark.

He also admitted that there has been something of a lull in releases since launch, but promised that “our big bangs will be arriving around September and October; Phil [Harrison] will be announcing these at a later date, but they will probably be in the arena of social gaming as well as more traditional games”.

Reeves was also bullish about take-up of the online service, revealing that around 460,000 gamers have already registered to the PlayStation Network.

But he refused to be drawn on any comparisons with Microsoft’s rival service.

“I don’t feel we’re competing with Xbox Live in any way. We’re in a different stadium. And with the introduction of Home at Christmas, we’re going in a completely different direction with something very entertaining.

“We don’t have our eyes on the competition in any way.”