Marvel Snap has returned and developers wish to switch publishers

On January 19, TikTok temporarily halted its operations in the US, causing an unexpected ripple effect on Marvel Snap, the popular card game developed by Second Dinner Studios and released by Nuverse, a division of ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. Marvel Snap faced a 24-hour blackout but is now back online, though still grappling with restoring full functionality, particularly in-game purchases.

In response to this disruption, the developers are contemplating a change in publishers and are planning to shift some services to internal resources. This strategic move, as outlined in an official statement on Platform X, aims to mitigate future risks. The underlying cause of this decision is the political uncertainty surrounding TikTok, which was granted a mere 90-day extension to sell 50% of its business to a local owner. Failure to meet this deadline could lead to reblocking TikTok and its associated projects, including Marvel Snap.

Second Dinner Studios has promised to provide further updates soon. Despite the game's availability on Steam for PC users, many players have encountered authorization issues. The developers, taken aback by the incident, are diligently working to fully restore the game. As per an official statement 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 of the more frustrating aspects for players was the lack of prior warning about the potential lockout. This led to continued in-game purchases, unaware of the impending service interruption.