The Chinese app TikTok was recently banned in the USA and has not been accessible since January 18, 2025. However, as a side effect, the popular card game Marvel Snap was also disabled. This has even surprised the developers themselves.
Why was TikTok banned? TikTok belongs to the Chinese parent company ByteDance, which the US government suspects of passing data of US citizens to the Chinese government. Since the data and algorithms of TikTok are not publicly accessible and the app could easily influence its users due to its popularity and opacity, the social media platform has been classified as a threat to national security.
Therefore, a law was passed in April 2024, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a company not based in China. This did not happen, which is why the app is now banned in the USA. Whether TikTok will be accessible there again in the future is currently uncertain.
“This outage surprised us and was not planned”
Why was Marvel Snap also banned? The law in the USA not only affected TikTok but also all other applications belonging to ByteDance. Unfortunately, this also includes the small studio Second Dinner, which is behind Marvel Snap.
They apparently did not anticipate this, as the studio posted on x.com:
Unfortunately, MARVEL SNAP is temporarily unavailable in the US app stores and cannot be played in the USA.
This outage comes as a surprise to us and was not planned. MARVEL SNAP will not disappear.
We are actively working to make the game available again as soon as possible and will keep you updated as soon as we know more about it.
Players currently trying to start the title receive a message that Marvel Snap is currently unavailable or cannot log in. The game has also disappeared from the stores and cannot be downloaded anymore.
What does this mean for the fans? Below the post, many justifiably wonder what will happen to real money they have already invested, as they can no longer use in-game purchases. In particular, users of the Gold Pass are upset since it is time-limited.
Many also do not completely believe the studio that it was a surprise for them that Marvel Snap was shut down. This criticism is also raised in other threads on x.com. So far, there has been no response to the allegations, and there has been no announcement regarding possible refunds up to this point.
Whether TikTok or other ByteDance applications will be available again in the USA is still uncertain. There would certainly be some candidates for a purchase of TikTok that would lift the ban. For example, the former head of Activision Blizzard had also expressed interest: The former CEO of Activision Blizzard wants to buy TikTok because it is supposed to be banned in the USA
