Tim Cook and other Apple executives will testify against Epic in the Fortnite trial

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

Apple AAPL CEO Tim Cook, software engineering chief Craig Federighi and Apple colleague Phil Schiller are some of the executives who can testify, according to a court file of preliminary witnesses. Others include those involved in payment processing, fighting fraud, and those involved in the development, policies, and tools of the App Store.

“Our senior executives look forward to sharing with the court the very positive impact the App Store has had on innovation, global economies and the customer experience over the past 12 years. We are confident the case will prove Epic’s intentional violated his agreement only to increase revenues, which resulted in their removal from the App Store, “Apple said in a statement. “In doing so, Epic bypassed the App Store’s security features in a way that would reduce competition and compromise consumer privacy and data security.”

Epic Games plans to call Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney and other senior executives to testify on things like its business model, financial performance, and the campaign against app stores. Epic declined to comment.

The iPhone maker and creator of the popular video game Fortnite has been mired in a legal battle since last year after Apple removed the Fortnite game from the App Store in August. The removal came after Epic pushed a software update to the app that allowed players to bypass Apple’s own 30% in-app payment system – which is contractually prohibited. Google has also removed Fortnite from its store.
Sweeney believes the requirement violated antitrust laws because it forced developers to use Apple and Google payment systems. Epic has subsequently filed lawsuits against both tech companies after the store’s relocation, arguing that the courts should step in and order Apple and Google to let developers sell in-app purchases without cutting its revenue by 30%.

The lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games could start as early as May 3, according to court documents.

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

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