The temporary suspension of TikTok's US operations on January 19th unexpectedly impacted Marvel Snap, the popular card game published by Nuverse (a ByteDance subsidiary). This disruption resulted in a 24-hour outage before the game's partial restoration. While the game is back online, in-app purchases remain unavailable.
This incident, stemming from the ongoing political uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future in the US, has prompted Second Dinner Studios to explore a change of publisher and internalization of some services. TikTok's 90-day extension to sell a 50% stake to a US entity leaves Marvel Snap vulnerable to future disruptions if the deal fails.
Second Dinner has promised further updates. While many users reported authorization problems, PC players via Steam remained unaffected. The developers expressed surprise at the event and assured players of their commitment to a swift resolution, stating 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.”
The lack of prior warning added insult to injury, leaving many players unaware of the potential lockout and continuing to make in-game purchases before the disruption.