Marvel Snap is back online after it was abruptly banned and shut down in the United States. Marvel Snap is one of the biggest free-to-play video games out there and has been incredibly popular on mobile for a few years now. The game allows players to utilize their favorite Marvel characters in the form of collectible digital cards and battle others in quick, fast-paced matches. This is not to be confused with the other absurdly successful Marvel free-to-play game that is having a big moment right now, Marvel Rivals. That’s more of a competitor to Overwatch and other hero shooters, but there has been some crossover between the two titles as Marvel Snap players can earn rewards for Marvel Rivals.
With it being as big as it is, there was a lot of frustration and disruption on Saturday night. On January 18th, 2025, Marvel Snap players were all booted from the game and unable to get back in. A message on the start screen notified players that a U.S. law had been enacted that prevented Marvel Snap from being available in the United States. Marvel Snap had been abruptly banned without warning and left many confused, disappointed, and frustrated. Given the game has a big market for microtransactions, many were angry that they weren’t notified they were spending money on a game that would cease to exist.
The reason for the Marvel Rivals ban was because the game is published by Nuverse, a subsidiary of ByteDance, the company behind social media app TikTok. Essentially, Marvel Rivals got dragged into the TikTok ban that was created by the United States government. Ben Brode, one of the developers of Marvel Rivals, took to Bluesky after the ban to tell fans that even they were unaware that this might happen.
“Unfortunately, Marvel Snap is temporarily unavailable in U.S. app stores and is unavailable to play in the U.S.,” said Brode after the ban. “This was a surprise to Second Dinner and our publisher Nuverse. We’re actively working on getting the game up as soon as possible and will update you once we have more to share.”
Nevertheless, Marvel Snap has made its triumphant return. On Sunday, January 19th, TikTok returned after President-elect Donald Trump made promises to ByteDance to work on finding a new solution to keeping the app available in the United States. However, Marvel Snap fans were saddened that the mobile game was not immediately brought back online.
It seems like the team behind the game was waiting for Trump to officially be back in office for the game to be brought back. Trump has officially signed an executive order preventing any enforcement of the ban on TikTok (and seemingly Marvel Snap) for 75 days. It has been questioned if the President actually has the power to not enforce a federal law, which means Marvel Snap and TikTok could go back down if the order is not legitimate or legal. Either way, it seems like things will be working as per usual for the time being. Hopefully, another Marvel Snap shutdown does not happen in the future, but if it does, check back with ComicBook.com for all the details.
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