Marvel Snap will return after TikTok's ban, but how long will its state last?

The popular digital card game "Marvel Snap" has unexpectedly been affected by the ban on TikTok in America. Currently, the game has returned to online play, but its status may not be sustainable.

As part of a law that protects Americans from applications controlled by foreign adversaries, "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," the original regulation banning TikTok started on January 19, 2025. Since Marvel Snap's publisher, Nuverse, is affiliated with ByteDance (which owns TikTok), American players are no longer able to use the game. This led to a two-day downtime, during which players could not access the game and fans felt disappointed. The developer, Second Dinner, stated that the downtime was unexpected and that work was being done to fix the issue.

The future of Marvel Snap depends on whether ByteDance sells TikTok to another company (at least partially), if the US lifts its ban, or if Nuverse is sold to another company. If TikTok were to go down again, it would affect Marvel Snap as well. The new government's stance emphasizes the importance of preserving American employment and not transferring it to China. I was a TikTok moderator during the COVID period, so I know that there are many jobs for Americans at the company. However, we recognized that Germany is also moderating videos for the US, so not all TikTok jobs were in America during the COVID period.

The future of Marvel Snap may be contingent on the owner of TikTok agreeing to this transaction. However, developers are already working to address this issue. Vice President of Second Dinner, Ben Bradley, announced in the game's official Discord channel that "Marvel Snap has returned online in America. But to prevent this from happening again, we plan to operate more services ourselves and form partnerships with new publishers." This ban will not return for at least three months, so there is time for many changes, but it may take some time before they become visible.

When US President Donald Trump took office, he issued an executive order temporarily suspending the use of ByteDance's TikTok and other apps. This temporary suspension allowed the game "Marvel Snap" to return to American players, but its fate remains uncertain until this temporary suspension ends.