ByteDance-owned apps, including popular game “Marvel Snap”, were removed from US app stores on Saturday due to a ban imposed by the US government over concerns about its parent company’s Chinese ties.
The move was made as part of a US law that prohibits ByteDance-controlled apps from being distributed in the country unless the Beijing-based company sells them. This law, which targets TikTok, also affects other ByteDance-owned apps such as CapCut and Lemon8.
“Marvel Snap”, developed by Second Dinner and published by Nuverse games division, was pulled from Apple and Google app stores on Saturday night. The game displayed a message to American players that it was temporarily unavailable.
Second Dinner stated that the game is not going anywhere and is working on getting it back up as soon as possible. The company said in a statement that it was affected by the takedown of TikTok late on Saturday, January 18th.
The ban on ByteDance-controlled apps comes amid growing concerns about the security risks posed by these apps. US President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to extend the deadline for ByteDance to divest its US assets by 90 days, but it remains unclear whether this will be enough to address the concerns of lawmakers and regulators.
As of now, the affected apps will remain on users’ devices if they have already been installed, but they can no longer be redownloaded. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are also no longer possible for these apps.
Source: https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/marvel-snap-shut-down-tiktok-ban-bytedance-1236278280