CARY – Vivek Sharma, vice president of gaming at Facebook and a noted critic of Apple’s app store business, is no longer listed as a witness for the Epic Games-Apple anti-trust lawsuit trial that begins next week.
Epic declined comment when asked why Sharma is no longer on the witness list.
“Facebook Inc.’s top gaming executive is no longer testifying on behalf of Epic Games Inc. in the upcoming trial with Apple Inc. over developer fees, according to court filings,” says a report from Bloomberg news.
“Vivek Sharma, Facebook’s vice president of gaming, was scheduled to testify on behalf of the Fortnite maker in the trial beginning in early May before Epic dropped him this week from its list of witnesses.”
Sharma had been expected to testify as a third-party witness.
Epic and Apple have sued each other over the app store dispute with Epic protesting 30% fees and Apple’s ban of its Fortnite game from the app store. Epic created a workaround for the fees and Apple responded with the ban.
The trial opens May 3 in federal court in California.
