The Daily Populous Wednesday January 22nd, 2025 morning edition
Authored by gamedeveloper.com and submitted by Remorse_123

Marvel Snap is back online in the United States but developer Second Dinner is searching for a new publisher to ensure the game remains available in the country.

The title was briefly banned in the region due to its links with TikTok owner ByteDance. Marvel Snap is published by Nuverse, which is a subsidiary of the Chinese company.

Now, Second Dinner has confirmed the title has returned but explained it wants to avoid a repeat scenario. At present, that means ditching Nuverse in favor of another publisher.

"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," reads a statement posted on X.

"We know this probably leaves you with even more questions than answers. We appreciate your patience, but in the meantime enjoy playing Marvel Snap."

At the time of writing, it appears players looking to download the title from digital storefronts such as the App Store are encountering issues. Second Dinner confirmed it's working on restoring App Store availability but noted "it may take some time" to remedy the situation.

The studio added that in-app purchases also remain unavailable on some platforms, but explained web shop purchases are functional.

Earlier this week, Second Dinner said it was working around the clock to bring Marvel Snap back online after what it called a "surprise" outage. A message shared with players indicated the game had been banned in the United States.

The news came shortly after a U.S. law banning social media platform TikTok (also owned by ByteDance) came into effect. TikTok was banned over purported links to the Chinese government, but as reported by the BBC has been granted a 75-day reprieve in the country by President Donald Trump.

ByteDance must now sell its operations in the U.S. to a local buyer or face the prospect of another ban.

Geeseareawesome on January 21st, 2025 at 19:47 UTC »

Watch it be EA

TehOwn on January 21st, 2025 at 19:19 UTC »

ByteDance pulling them offline suddenly was a really shitty thing to do. They were well aware of their pending ban in the United States and had months to prepare.

There's no excuse for not making Second Dinner aware that it would impact them directly.

For those who don't know, ByteDance went offline voluntarily for a few hours as a publicity stunt and to glaze Trump. I think it's pretty obvious that they aimed for maximum disruption.

I hope SD are considering legal action.

Inuma on January 21st, 2025 at 13:49 UTC »

This would be the greatest fit of irony if the only company to do this would be Blizzard since Netease does Overwatch for them in China...