Marvel Snap has officially returned to the US, after a two day absence forced by the banning of ByteDance apps in the country. While Marvel Snap is not owned by ByteDance, the game is published by ByteDance subsidiary Nuverse, which was seemingly reason enough to have it removed from the app store, with service in the US suspended.
In a new post announcing the restoration of service, Second Dinner chief development officer Ben Brode has confirmed a new publisher will be sought for the game, to avoid this situation happening again.
“Marvel Snap is back online in the US,” Brode said, via Discord (and Polygon). “But to make sure this NEVER happens again, we’re working to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher.”
Brode reportedly went on to declare a “new era” for Marvel Snap moving forward, while acknowledging that this would leave players with “even more questions than answers.” He called for patience, and for fans to continue enjoying their card battles while the team prepares.
Read: Second Dinner designer Kent-Erik Hagman talks smart card game design
In addition, Second Dinner also confirmed players who “lost time” in the two days Marvel Snap was down would be compensated in some manner. As noted, players weren’t able to access “time-based content, rewards, and missions” while the game was shuttered.
Why does Marvel Snap need a new publisher?
While Brode’s announcement about finding a new publisher for Marvel Snap didn’t go into details, there are likely several reasons why Second Dinner will seek a new publisher for the game.
The basic version is this: Marvel Snap is currently published by Nuverse, which is a subsidiary of Chinese company, ByteDance. This company also owns TikTok. In 2020, an executive order passed by President Donald Trump outlined TikTok as a threat to the United States, over fears it would use data collected by the app to track US citizens and “build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”
One of the big solutions offered to prevent an incoming ban of TikTok was the outright sale of the app to the US, with a deadline eventually being set in January 2025. Prior to this deadline dropping, ByteDance pulled service for all of its apps, including Marvel Snap. While TikTok’s service was quickly restored, as ByteDance claimed it had gained the support of Trump, Marvel Snap remained offline for over 48 hours.
Second Dinner was reportedly caught out by this ban, and was not informed ByteDance’s removal of service would impact their operations. It came as a surprise to many, as Marvel Snap is also a Disney-produced games, starring characters that are as American as they come.
It’s unclear whether Second Dinner will be forced to change publisher, as ByteDance remains under scrutiny for its data-collection practices, or whether the developer has simply chosen to find a new publisher, based on the poor handling of the game’s surprise removal. In any case, it does look like Second Dinner is looking to take on more of the responsibility for Marvel Snap, to ensure service is never interrupted in this manner again.
We expect more updates from Second Dinner in the weeks and months ahead.