Marvel Snap should be back up in the United States “within the next 12 hours,” according to the development team after the title surprisingly went dark on Sunday following the TikTok ban.
Developer Second Dinner expressed their “surprise” at the outage on Sunday, which occurred after the US’s TikTok ban went into effect. While the social media platform has since returned, Marvel Snap remains inaccessible. Thankfully, the beloved game is set to make its return very soon. A post on the official Marvel Snap X page (formerly Twitter) states that they “expect everything to be fully restored within the next 12 hours.”
Marvel Snap’s surprise dark period came after a demand for TikTok owner Bytedance to sell the platform in the US was not adhered to, leading to the app’s ban. While Marvel Snap’s Nuverse was not affected by the ban, the game did go dark in the US—which caused a stir.
TikTok’s return was a good sign for Marvel Snap, but it doesn’t seem to be a quick and easy process, as the game remains unavailable in the US for the time being. Though that period will end, the surprise disappearance may have done irreparable damage to the game’s reputation.
A large section of Marvel Snap players have been frustrated with the game’s direction for a while and the sudden disappearance of the game will leave a sour taste in the mouth—particularly for those who splash out on in-game purchases.
Though the dark period for Marvel Snap has not been extremely lengthy, it has still caused an issue for players unable to complete missions. Compensation may be on the cards for those affected but it will do little to appease a frustrated fanbase.
In the long term, it will be interesting to see what happens with TikTok in the US and how any future ban will affect the gaming industry. If Chinese companies decide to take a stand, there will be huge voids in the sector.
