Marvel Snap has returned and developers wish to switch publishers

On January 19, TikTok, the popular social media platform, temporarily ceased operations in the US, leading to an unexpected impact on Marvel Snap, a renowned card game developed by Second Dinner Studios and released by Nuverse, a division of ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. Following a 24-hour unavailability period, Marvel Snap has resumed service, though full functionality has yet to be restored, with in-game purchases currently unavailable. In response to this incident, the developers are contemplating a change in publishers and plan to transition some services to internal resources, as announced in an official statement on Platform X.

The underlying reason for these measures is the political risk associated with TikTok's operations. The company was granted a 90-day extension to sell 50% of its business to a local owner, and failure to meet this deadline could result in reblocking TikTok and related projects, including Marvel Snap.

Second Dinner Studios has promised to provide further updates on the situation. Despite the disruption, PC players could still access the game on Steam, though many have reported issues with authorization. The developers at Second Dinner expressed their surprise at the incident and are diligently working to restore full access to the game. As stated in an official release on Platform X, "Marvel Snap is here to stay. We're working hard to restore the game as quickly as possible, and we'll keep players informed of our progress."

One significant concern for players was the lack of prior notification about the potential lockout, leading to continued in-game purchases without awareness of the impending service interruption.