Released in October 2022 by Second Dinner Studios, Marvel Snap is a popular digital collectible card game featuring iconic Marvel characters. Marvel Snap attracted a large fan base as a result of its relationship with Marvel and its emphasis on quick card matches, strategic depth, and casual accessibility. In its first year on app stores, the game earned more than $116 million in mobile revenue, with December 2022 being its most profitable month at $13.8 million. Marvel Snap has since generated $8–9 million per month on a fairly consistent basis. The game’s success went so far as to earn it the Best Mobile Game award at The Game Awards in December 2022, and the A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game at the New York Game Awards in January 2023.
Marvel Snap’s steady path of success recently came to a halt as a result of TikTok’s ban in America last night at approximately 10:30 p.m. EST. A law referred to as Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, designated H.R.7521 was put into effect, outlawing the distribution and maintenance of applications provided by companies that originate from countries Washington considers adversaries. This includes China, which rendered TikTok, a social media app owned by a private Chinese technology company, ByteDance, illegal under the ruling. ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok has raised concerns in multiple countries due to its ties to Chinese laws requiring companies to cooperate with government data requests. This makes the app a potential data privacy and national security issue for nations who distrust the Chinese government.
Marvel Snap was pulled from the App Store and Google Play Store, rendered inaccessible on all American devices shortly after TikTok’s removal. Although the Marvel Snap is developed by Second Dinner, a company based in California, the game is published by a ByteDance subsidiary, called Nuverse. Given that ByteDance was deemed illegal under the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, this included any media published under the company’s name. Marvel Snap was promptly removed in America, although its ban apparently took Second Dinner by surprise.
Second Dinner commented on the situation via a post on the company’s official X (formerly Twitter) account. The post informed fans that Marvel Snap had been removed from U.S. stores and rendered unplayable, although these changes were described as temporary and impermanent. Second Dinner went on to claim that “this outage is a surprise to [them] and wasn’t planned.” The company assures fans that “MARVEL SNAP isn’t going anywhere,” and they promise to work on restoring Marvel Snap in the meantime.
User response to the predicament has been largely negative, with Marvel Snap players taking to X in order to share their opinions on the matter. One user called Birb
Another user complained that the Marvel Snap ban was like “Spider-Man Unlimited all over again,” adding a screenshot showcasing exactly what the downloaded game displays when opened.
Marvel Snap is currently unavailable on the App Store or Google Play Store, although this may change in time. Until then, many fans of the game are left frustrated and confused, forced to remain in the dark until the full extent and reasoning behind Marvel Snap’s removal in America comes to light.