Microsoft Teams, a company messaging and video assembly service, will now not be included with Microsoft Office. The software program break-up comes on account of antitrust investigation in Europe, the place Teams and Office 365 have been de-bundled since October of final 12 months. The software program separation is international as of in the present day.

Reuters reports that Microsoft is making the European-style providing normal internationally. “To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally,” a spokesperson advised the information service. While the bundled model of Teams and Office continues to be out there worldwide, prospects can select to modify to a separate Teams-only subscription, an Office package deal that doesn’t embody Teams, or proceed with their present package deal.

European regulators taking situation with bundling merchandise is nothing new for Microsoft, or certainly, for any giant tech firm. The European Commission’s newest investigation follows a criticism by Slack, a competing workplace chat service owned by Salesforce.

But Microsoft’s beef with EU regulators goes all the way in which again to 1998, when a six-year Windows investigation led to 2004 with a $613 million wonderful. Further investigations and subsequent fines adopted in 2008 and 2013, totaling greater than a billion {dollars} in fines, so it’s no surprise that the corporate is raring to go off the newest one on the go. Observers say that even this transfer might not mollify the European Commission.

The information may trigger complications for companies which might be actively utilizing Teams as their main worker communication program, or presumably make options like Slack extra enticing with cheaper Office choices. But most house customers are unlikely to note a distinction. The free version of Microsoft Teams, which presents limitless one-on-one video calls and group conferences for as much as 60 minutes, isn’t going wherever.