Sony has released the first usage statistics for the PlayStation Network, revealing that more than 1.3 million users worldwide have registered for the company's free online service for the PlayStation 3. 600,000 of those accounts originated in North America, where the console launched just five months prior.

In a new report by consumer website GameSpot, Sony Computer Entertainment America's PR head David Karraker also revealed that registered PlayStation Network users have downloaded 3.7 million pieces of content, though the executive did not specify what types of content have proven most popular among users, or how many actual games had been downloaded.

Like Xbox Live, the online service offers a wide variety of content, from games and demos to movie trailers. However, while Sony's content download figure is impressive, it is dwarfed by Xbox Live's some 135 million downloads since the launch of Xbox 360.

While this is a certainly a positive for Sony's competitor to Microsoft's offering, the company still has a considerable ways before it catches up. Microsoft announced in March that Xbox Live, which first went live in 2002, has surpassed 6 million users worldwide, a milestone reached 4 months ahead of the company's June 2007 goal.