A push to make Google and Apple change their smartphone app store rules is taking place, though it is restricted to the European Union. The popular game Fortnite, offloaded from both companies’ app stores four years ago over a business dispute, has returned to the phone… in a way.

If you want to play Fortnite on an iPhone, you will need to live in the EU where you can download the title from several non-Apple mini app stores that now exist under a new European law. On the other hand, Android phone owners anywhere in the world can get the title through a backdoor on the app store but the process is convoluted and users may not feel safe to load it (because of the warnings).

The bigger deal is how smartphone app rules are changing in a fast-changing tech scenario.

Epic chief executive Tim Sweeney has thanked EU’s Digital Markets Act to force digital “gatekeepers” to open up their platforms to rivals and he said “the tide is turning” as Big Tech companies face pressure from regulators around the world.

It’s not just Fortnite. Other Epic Games titles — Fall Guys and Rocket League Sideswipe — are coming to iOS in Europe and to Android worldwide, available through the new Epic Games Store, as well as from other alternative app stores, including Aptoide and AltStore that have launched in the EU.

“We want to help every store reach users who offer developers great terms…. We’ll be bringing all of our games to them and trying to establish a spirit of helping all developers and recognising that a rising tide lifts all boats,” Sweeney said.

Apple said: “The DMA required us to enable new capabilities for developers in the EU and we have worked to make them as easy as possible for users while also trying to protect their privacy and security.”

Ampere Analysis, a research group, says that 35 million people played Fortnite for more than 600 million hours in July on Xbox and PlayStation.

The relationship between Epic on the one hand, and Apple and Google on the other, soured when the North Carolina-based developer sued them in the US for allegedly monopolistic practices. When the game developer tried to bypass the platforms’ in-app billing systems, problems began.

Fortnite and other Epic titles remain banned from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store around the world. On its website, Apple says it takes five steps to install an alternative app store on iOS in Europe.