Marvel Snap has returned to US players after a brief but unannounced shutdown linked to the recent TikTok ban legislation. The popular card game, caught in the crossfire of larger restrictions on ByteDance-owned applications, went offline Saturday night without warning— even catching its own development team off guard.
Second Dinner, the game’s developer, was blindsided when parent company ByteDance pulled the plug on US services, leaving players unable to access their card collections and developers scrambling for answers. Chief Development Officer Ben Brode actually resorted to suggesting players use VPNs to access the game through Canadian servers as a temporary workaround.
Though the game is now back online for US players, there are still some issues that remain unsolved. The app is still absent from major platforms like the App Store and Google Play, and players are reporting issues with in-game purchases. To prevent future disruptions, Second Dinner has announced plans to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher in what Brode calls “the start of a new era for Marvel Snap.”
The shutdown was a good demonstration of the complex relationship between gaming companies and their parent organizations, especially when caught in the crosshairs of international tech regulations. Second Dinner has promised compensation for US players who missed out on rewards during the downtime, though specific details are yet to be announced.
What’s interesting is that the incident occurred despite ByteDance’s previous attempts to distance itself from its gaming division Nuverse, Marvel Snap’s current publisher. Players have been advised to give developers time to fully restore normal operations and implement their announced changes.
Second Dinner is likely working to iron out remaining technical issues and establish new publishing arrangements that should help insulate the game from similar disruptions in the future.
