Marvel Snap’s developer seeks a new publisher

Second Dinner's digital card game, which has earned more than US$200 million to date, was caught up in the TikTok ban fallout because its current publisher is a ByteDance subsidiary.
January 21, 2025

Second Dinner, the LA-based video game studio behind Marvel Snap, has committed to finding a new publisher for its card game in order to avoid getting caught up in any future TikTok ban. 

The company announced that it’s “working to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher” in a post on X yesterday. When TikTok went dark over the weekend in response to the sell-or-ban ruling US Congress passed against its Chinese parentco, ByteDance, Marvel Snap was caught in the crossfire by virtue of the fact that its publisher (Nuverse) is a Bytedance subsidiary. 

Marvel Snap has earned more than US$200 million in revenue since its release in 2022, racking up 22 million downloads on mobile phones and PCs so far. It also went dark in the US over the weekend, but came back online yesterday. However, in-app purchases are still unavailable, and it isn’t currently being offered for purchase in the App Store or on Google Play. 

Just hours after he was sworn in yesterday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to delay the enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days—a day after the ban took effect. This order instructs the attorney general to not levy fines against app stores and service providers that help TikTok keep operating. 

Getting caught up in the ban was a surprise to Second Dinner and Nuverse, said Second Dinner co-founder and chief development officer Ben Brode in a Bluesky post on Sunday. 

It’s been barely a year since Second Dinner raised US$100 million in Series B funding and told Kidscreen it was developing new four-quadrant games and looking to partner with kids & family IP owners to produce licensed games. The studio opened its doors in 2018, and Marvel Snap is its first and only game in the market. 

About The Author
News editor for Kidscreen. Ryan covers tech, talent and general kids entertainment news, with a passion for kids rap content and video games. Have a story that's of interest to Kidscreen readers? Contact Ryan at rtuchow@brunico.com

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