Tim Cook and other Apple executives to testify against Epic in Fortnite lawsuit

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The case concerns a fallout between the maker of one of the world’s most popular video games and the preeminent mobile device company over Apple’s control of its App Store. Epic is suing Apple for alleged violations of antitrust laws.

Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, chief software engineering Craig Federighi and his Apple colleague Phil Schiller are some of the executives likely to testify, according to a provisional witness filing. Others include those who handle payment processing, anti-fraud, and those involved in App Store development, policies, and tools.

“Our leaders look forward to sharing with the court the very positive impact of the App Store on innovation, economies around the world and the customer experience over the past 12 years. We’re confident the case will prove Epic willfully violated their deal. only to increase its revenue, which led to their removal from the App Store, ”Apple said in a statement. “In doing so, Epic has bypassed the security features of the App Store in a way that would lead to reduced competition and put the privacy and security of consumer data at enormous risk.”

Epic Games plans to call its founder and CEO Tim Sweeney and other senior executives to testify on issues such as its business model, financial performance and campaign against app stores. Epic declined to comment.

IPhone maker and creator of the popular video game Fortnite has been trapped in a legal battle since last year after Apple pulled the game Fortnite from its App Store in August. The removal came after Epic pushed for an app software update that allowed gamers to bypass Apple’s proprietary in-app payment system by 30% – which is contractually prohibited. Google also removed Fortnite from its store.
Sweeney believes the requirement violated antitrust laws because it required developers to use payment systems from Apple and Google. Epic then sued the two tech companies after the store was deleted, arguing that the courts should step in and order Apple and Google to allow developers to sell in-app purchases without the 30% cut in revenue.

The Apple lawsuit against Epic Games could begin as early as May 3, according to court documents.

– CNN’s Brian Fung and Shannon Liao contributed to this report.

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