San Francisco, Mar 21 (IANS): Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook as well as Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney may testify in an upcoming trial in the US as the two companies got themselves involved in a legal battle over the use of an in-game payment system.

The trial is set to begin on May 3, TechCrunch reported on Saturday.

For Apple, the proposed witness list also includes Software Engineering Senior Vice President Craig Federighi and Apple Fellow, Phil Schiller.

On team Epic, the Vice President Mark Rein is also included as witness, besides Sweeney.

Fortnite-creator Epic Games alleges that Apple uses its control of the iOS ecosystem to benefit itself while blocking competitors.

The Fortnite game was removed from App Store in August of last year after the company violated rules by adding an in-game payment system aimed at depriving Apple of its commission on in-app purchases from App Store.

The company said that when Epic gave Fortnite players on iOS a choice between Apple payment and Epic direct payment, Apple retaliated by blocking Fortnite updates.

When Epic sought to bring the Epic Games Store to iOS, Apple declined.

It alleges that while Apple has launched its own gaming distribution service, Apple Arcade, it has barred competitors including Epic from doing the same.

Apple had earlier denied that its 30 per cent commission was anti-competitive, saying it was Epic Games that violated its contract.

The iPhone maker said that Epic benefited from Apple's promotion and developer tools.