Sources: the EU is set to launch an in-depth probe into Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition after Microsoft didn't file remedies to antitrust enforcers
Samuel Stolton / Politico :
Context & Ripple Effects
This was the expected next step: back in September, sources said the EU would join the UK's CMA in an in-depth look at the deal over its size and competition fears alongside the UK's CMA. What changed this week is the trigger — Microsoft chose not to offer remedies up front, forcing Brussels' hand rather than negotiating at Phase 1.
That choice sets up the formal Phase II probe the Commission opened days later with a March decision deadline, and ultimately the concessions over Call of Duty access that carried the deal to approval in May after licensing concessions. Skipping early remedies traded speed for leverage.
First-order effects
- Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition moves into a formal in-depth EU investigation, stretching the review timeline past the original schedule and putting the $69B deal's closing date in doubt.
Second-order effects
- With no remedies on the table, the Commission's scrutiny shifts to Microsoft's rivals' concerns — priming the company to eventually buy approval through Nintendo and Nvidia licensing commitments instead of structural divestitures.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, large tech acquisitions face a two-track path in Brussels: file behavioral remedies early for a fast Phase 1 exit, or absorb a months-long Phase II that ends in licensing concessions anyway — making upfront remedy strategy a core part of mega-deal planning.
The trend: Big-tech M&A is shifting from quick clearance to negotiated behavioral remedies, with regulators extracting access commitments as the price of approval.