Tech giant Microsoft backed Epic Games in an effort to protest against Apple’s restrictions on development tools.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: Let's talk about what Dan Howley is watching. Dan, of course, you've been tracking closely the fight between Apple and Epic Games, the maker of "Fortnite." And now, Epic seems to have a pretty powerful ally.

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, it's Microsoft. Microsoft is basically stepping in now and saying that they're supporting Epic's fight with Apple. Microsoft, believe it or not, have brought up antitrust concerns about Apple in the past. This is something that Microsoft president Brad Smith had talked about.

And then more recently, with Microsoft's xCloud-- Cloud gaming platform not being allowed on iOS devices, Microsoft brought up the idea that that was harmful to consumers. That's something that obviously antitrust investigators are going to be looking at. You can get that service, that xCloud service, on Android.

So basically, Microsoft here is saying, look, Apple could hurt more developers by limiting Epic's Unity game engine, and that in the long run could be detrimental, at least according to Microsoft.

JULIE HYMAN: Interesting. We'll keep a watch on that because that story looks like it's here to stay for a little while. Dan Howley, Rick Newman, thank you so much.