E.U. investigates Microsoft over concerns bundling Teams with Office eliminates competition

The European Union said Thursday that it has opened an antitrust investigation into Microsoft over concerns that bundling its Teams messaging and videoconferencing app with its Office productivity software gives it an unfair edge over competitors. The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's top competition enforcer, said it would carry out its in-depth investigation “as a matter of priority.” The investigation stems from a complaint filed in 2020 by Slack Technologies, which makes popular workplace messaging software. “This is why we are investigating whether Microsoft’s tying of its productivity suites with Teams may be in breach of EU competition rules,” she added. Microsoft said in a statement that it respected “the European Commission’s work on this case.” It added that it “will continue to cooperate with the commission and remain committed to finding solutions that will address its concerns.” Only last week, the German alfaview video conferencing company added its own complaint over Microsoft Teams, arguing that bundling gives the U.S. tech giant an unmatched competitive advantage “that is not justified by performance and that competitors like alfaview cannot match.” The commission says opening the investigation in no way determines the outcome. The EU approved Microsoft’s plan to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, after the company offered to automatically license popular Activision titles like “Call of Duty” for cloud gaming platforms.