Apple Cook CEO, directors on the provisional list of witnesses in the case of Epic Games

FILE PHOTO: Apple CEO Tim Cook testifies remotely via video conference during a hearing of the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law on “Online Platforms and Market Power” in this video screenshot , while the committee is meeting on Capitol Hill, Washington, USA, July 29, 2020. Judicial Committee of the US House of Representatives via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook, chief software officer Craig Federighi and other executives have been named on a temporary list of witnesses in the case of the software giant against Epic Games, a March 19 file said.

App Store vice president Matt Fischer and Apple colleague Phil Schiller were also named on the list presented to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of the Oakland Division in California, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

The iPhone maker has been battling Epic Games, the creator of the popular game Fortnite, which last year tried to avoid a 30% fee that Apple charges developers on the App Store by launching its own in-app payment system. The move prompted Apple to ban Fortnite from its store.

In a separate case, Epic Games listed its founder and CEO Tim Sweeney among its witnesses in this case.

Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, but told Bloomberg here in a statement that it is “confident that the case will prove that Epic intentionally violated its agreement just to increase its revenue.”

A direct message to Epic Games on one of its official Twitter handles did not generate an immediate response.

Reporting of Ismail Shakil and Derek Francis in Bengaluru; edited by Jason Neely

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