Source: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
The long-awaited legal battle between Fortnite developer Epic Games and Apple finally goes to trial next week, and the witness list is stacked.
Back in August, Apple gave Fortnite the boot from the App Store after Epic Games revealed it would be bypassing the 30% revenue cut that both the App Store and Google Play store takes when players purchase V-Bucks in Fortnite. In a statement, Epic Games said, “If Apple or Google lower their fees on payments in the future, Epic will pass along the savings to you.”
In response to Epic Games decision, Apple pulled the game from the App Store, and in its own statement, the company said:
“Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result, their Fortnite app has been removed from the store.”
Next week’s trial will take place where Epic Games will argue that Apple unfairly kicked the insanely popular game off the App Store and” is exercising an illegal monopoly over the ubiquitous iOS platform,” The Verge reports. Apple is countering by saying Epic Games “is trying to break the iOS platform’s vaunted safety and security for its own gain.” Both companies shared their gameplan when presenting how they will win their cases and shared a near-final list of witnesses they expect to call to provide testimony.
The lists are not final but are filled with Apple and Epic employees, including Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as outside parties who have a stake in this case like Microsoft Xbox executive Lori Wright who is on both lists, and Adrian Ong from Match Group who recently called out Apple during a congressional hearing.
The trial is set to begin on Monday (May 3) and could last until the last week of May. To see the full list of witnesses that may or may not be called, you can head here.
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Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
