Xbox EMEA marketing chief: We don't have the same huge marketing dollars as PlayStation

The Xbox is facing intense competition from PlayStation in the European market, not only due to the disparity in sales, but also due to the disparity in marketing budgets.

Michael Flatt, head of marketing for Xbox EMEA, said the company could not match PlayStation's "massive" marketing spend in Europe and had to adopt a "budget-conscious" marketing strategy.

"From a funding point of view, we need to work hard to compete with our competitors. They have the marketing dollars that we don't have, but that's perfectly fine. We're taking a more responsible approach to media investment. We can't squander large sums of money at will, so we have to work very hard and fight for money that could be spent elsewhere," Flatt said.

It is worth noting that there are reports that Microsoft is considering further reducing its marketing efforts in certain EMEA markets, mainly due to historically low sales in these regions. Microsoft may shift its marketing focus to Game Pass, PC and Cloud gaming, and Xbox controllers.