Fans of Marvel Snap were surprised to learn the the mobile card game was temporarily pulled from mobile stores in the United States this week. It has since returned, but the developer is now seeking a new publisher.
Marvel Snap is published by Nuverse, a subsidiary of ByteDance. Why does that matter? Because ByteDance is the Chinese company behind TikTok.
Social media service TikTok was temporarily banned in the United States on January 19 following the implementation of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
The Act specifically targets TikTok, a popular social media platform similar to Facebook or Twitter/X, except that it’s owned and operated outside of the United States.
The TikTok ban became highly politically charged, with then-President Trump signing the Executive Order in 2020, only to reverse course upon his re-election in 2025. ByteDance has been given a 90-day extension to comply with the law, where they must divest or change ownership of the social media platform.
Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner was unusually candid about the need to change publishers when posting an update to Twitter/X:
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 free-to-play on Android and iOS mobile devices.