TikTok’s banning in the final days of the Biden administration may not have lasted all that long, but one Bytedance-affiliated app that was hit harder by the law’s imposition was Marvel’s own digital card game Marvel Snap. Now that the game is finally back online in the U.S., its developers are hoping to avoid any future headaches with some sweeping changes.
Despite the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act largely focusing on pressuring Chinese tech giant Bytedance to divest from TikTok and hand over control to U.S. companies, Snap was caught up in the ban on TikTok alongside apps like the video editor CapCut this past weekend due to individual affiliations with the broader ownership. In Snap‘s case, the game is developed by U.S.-based developer Second Dinner, but published by Nuverse, a subsidiary of Bytedance, and just one of several games that found itself facing surprise outages.
But now that enforcement of the act has seemingly been put on hold by the Trump administration, service has slowly started resuming on other apps affected by TikTok’s banning, Snap included. However, Second Dinner won’t be getting any nasty surprises should eventual enforcement of the ban resumes, with an announcement that alongside the restoration of service, Snap will partner with a new publisher unaffiliated with Bytedance going forward.
MARVEL SNAP is back online in the U.S. But to make sure this NEVER happens again, we’re working to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher. This is the start of a new era for MARVEL SNAP.
We know this probably leaves you with even more questions than…
— Second Dinner (@seconddinner) January 21, 2025
“Marvel Snap is back online in the U.S. But to make sure this NEVER happens again, we’re working to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher,” Second Dinner announced in a statement on X late last night. “This is the start of a new era for Marvel Snap.”
“We know this probably leaves you with even more questions than answers,” the statement concluded. “We appreciate your patience, but in the meantime enjoy playing Marvel Snap.”
As of writing Snap remains unavailable in the App store for those who may have deleted the game during its outage, but otherwise playable, with Second Dinner previously promising to compensate players impacted by the loss of time-sensitive rewards at some point.
Just how quickly Second Dinner will be able to find a new publishing partner remains to be seen–Bytedance was already making moves last year to exit the games industry, with a report by Reuters adding that the tech giant would cease development on upcoming titles as well as look for ways to divest from already-published games, Snap presumably included. The crossfire of the TikTok ban probably wasn’t the way either Second Dinner or Bytedance expected that divestment to happen, but it’s probably helped accelerate it.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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2025-01-21 15:45:33
