EA is predicting that the Sony PlayStation 3 will beat out Microsoft’s Xbox 360 by the end of the year — in European markets, at least. The world’s largest third-party publisher is expecting that the PS3 will sell an impressive 6 million units in 2008, with the Xbox 360 falling behind.

The U.S. market will be a much closer race, according to EA. American gamers are more loyal to the Xbox 360, which is developed in the U.S.–just as Japanese customers prefer their home-grown Sony (and Nintendo) consoles. The Xbox 360 also features more Western influence in its games.

Contributing to the PS3′s success is an expected price drop for the system over the next year. The price of the PS3 has always been its biggest obstacle to sales. The system itself is technically superior to its competition, and the library of available games is expected to grow considerably in 2008. Analysts recently estimated that Sony was able to cut PS3 production costs in half with changes it has made the process, which fuels the expectation for a price drop.

Of course, EA expects the Nintendo Wii to continue to dominate in sales over both consoles — even after Microsoft invited Wii owners to graduate from casual gameplay to the more sophisticated Xbox 360.