Microsoft-Activision EU Review Deadline Extended to April 25

The European Commission extended its review of Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion plan to buy Activision Blizzard Inc. by two weeks.

The EU’s merger watchdog said in a website filing on Wednesday that it set a new deadline of April 25, without giving reasons. Such delays are normal in in-depth reviews of big mergers and are often an indication that companies requested more time to work on remedies.

Microsoft president Brad Smith told reporters after a closed-door hearing with the commission in Brussels last week that it isn’t “feasible or realistic to think that one game or one slice ...