“Well over nine million” Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in Europe, according to Microsoft.

Chris Lewis, VP of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told MCV that the Xbox 360 was the only platform to see positive sales growth during 2009, and that it now commands 27 per cent of European console market share.

“Our installed base is now well over nine million in Europe, where we enjoy about 27 per cent of the current share of the console market,” he said.

“This calendar year, we’re the only console showing positive growth. That’s 22 per cent on the first half against a market that is down to a similar margin overall. So we are bucking that trend.”