If there's a contender for the biggest news over the weekend, it would undoubtedly be TikTok's temporary ban in the United States. This action followed a congressional act labeling it as a "foreign adversary controlled application," and the ban took effect on Sunday. However, President-elect Donald Trump quickly pledged to restore the service, and ByteDance promptly brought TikTok back online. Yet, not all of ByteDance's applications have enjoyed such a swift return.

A prime example is Marvel Snap, the popular comic-themed card battler. As reported over the weekend, Marvel Snap, along with other releases from ByteDance subsidiaries like Moonton's Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, was abruptly halted in the U.S. with a message stating it had been banned. ByteDance's message was clear: accept all their offerings or get none at all.

The twist? Developer Second Dinner was seemingly caught off guard by this move and has been managing the fallout on Twitter for the past 24 hours. Despite this, they've committed to restoring Marvel Snap to service quickly. However, this situation raises some troubling questions.

Catch!You don't need a degree in political science to see that TikTok's brief outage and its pointed message positioning Trump as its potential savior was a strategic move by ByteDance to generate buzz. It appears to have worked, allowing them to dramatically re-enter the U.S. market. Yet, this political maneuvering also affected other gaming releases, leaving some developers, like Second Dinner, to deal with the aftermath. Second Dinner has promised lucrative free rewards to compensate players for the downtime, hoping to have Marvel Snap back online by the time of publishing.

While this incident is unlikely to make Second Dinner abandon their lucrative partnership with ByteDance, it certainly hasn't boosted their confidence. The message seems clear: mobile gaming is secondary to ByteDance's primary focus on their algorithm-driven social media platform.

Game overThis isn't the first time ByteDance has prioritized social media over gaming. In 2023, their gaming division underwent massive layoffs, canceling many projects before they could launch. Since then, Marvel Snap indicated a shift towards partnerships rather than in-house development. However, this significant breach of trust could make other developers and publishers wary of getting entangled in ByteDance's next political controversy.

Disney, too, might be feeling the impact, especially with the recent release of NetEase's Marvel Rivals, which boosted mobile gaming through a crossover collaboration earlier this month. ByteDance may have outmaneuvered politicians, but players, developers, and IP holders are likely to be less forgiving.

They think it’s all over…Rumors suggest ByteDance might just be the beginning. Other Chinese gaming giants like Tencent and NetEase could be next in line. The FTC has already targeted MiHoYo over loot boxes, and even this high-profile dispute and its anticlimactic resolution might not deter the next politician with a vendetta against gaming.

What's next for Marvel Snap? Many, especially older players, who were indifferent to TikTok suddenly took notice when their favorite card game was pulled. ByteDance's gamble, though unexpected, paid off, setting a concerning precedent. How will people react when their favorite pastime becomes a pawn in geopolitical games? The saying about bread and circuses might just backfire on everyone involved.