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In January this year, a judge in the Northern District of California finally set a trial date for Fortnite maker Epic Games’ antitrust case against Google. The trial for the epic legal battle begins on November 6, which is less than a month away now. Ahead of that, the court has released a tentative list of witnesses who may testify next month. Epic “will or might call” as many as 53 witnesses, including the Google CEO and Android co-founder.
Google CEO and other top executives to testify in the Epic antitrust case
This list of witnesses who may appear in court to testify in this antitrust case mostly includes executives and leaders from Google and Epic Games. While all of them may not be called to testify, most of them may have to head to the court sometime next month. One of the biggest names on the list is Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet. The company’s CFO Ruth Porat will also testify, and so will the CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney.
Android co-founders Andy Rubin, Nick Sears, and Rich Miner are also on the list. That’s despite Rubin and Sears having no association with Google for almost a decade. Rubin left the company in 2014 following allegations of sexual misconduct. He reportedly took a $90 million payout to exit Google. Epic says it “may call” him to testify, so it’s unclear whether we will see Rubin in court.
Sears, who left Google in 2013, is also on Epic’s list of witnesses. Miner, on the other hand, features on the list provided by Google. Note that Miner still works at the company. Other prominent names on the lists include former Open Handset Alliance head Eric Chu and Activision CFO Armin Zerza. You can see this official filing (via The Verge) from Thursday, October 5 for more details about the witnesses who may testify in the case.
Epic has already lost a similar battle against Apple
Epic’s battle against Google and Apple began in 2020 after the latter two companies kicked Fortnite out of their respective app store for using a third-party payment option. The game maker challenged the decision and sued the two for anti-competitive practices.
Apple has mostly won the battle already, with a court ruling only one decision in favor of Epic. A district judge ordered it to permit third-party payment options in iOS apps. The company has asked the Supreme Court to review this ruling, while Epic has asked for a review of the whole case. While the Supreme Court has yet to take up either petition, Epic’s antitrust case against Google is nearing a hearing. We will keep you posted on the outcome of all these legal battles.
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