Marvel Snap players are getting the new Kitty Pryde card for free, because the original Kitty Pryde card that launched at the end of March—and was then quickly pulled—was so broken that it would've basically required an overhaul of the entire game to fix.
Kitty Pryde debuted in Marvel Snap on March 28, but it quickly became clear that the card had problems. On March 29, principal game designer Glenn Jones posted a five-tweet thread answering some questions about the card, including a rundown of bugs related to Lockjaw, The Collector, and Beast. But those answers only seemed to attract even more questions, confusion, and complaints. The next day, March 30, developer Second Dinner temporarily disabled the card in order to "resolve an issue that sometimes results in a game crash when playing against Kitty Pryde."
"We're sorry for this inconvenience and will compensate all players at a future date," the studio said. "We're working hard to resolve this issue and will provide updates as we learn more information."
Even though it's now nearly three weeks since the card was disabled, there's still been no sign of a return. A new Marvel Snap patch went live today, in fact, and yet Kitty Pryde remains conspicuous in her absence. The reason, Second Dinner explained in an update, is that the card wasn't just bugged, it was weaponized.
"We’ve been exploring fixes for Kitty Pryde’s multiple issues. However we’ve found that in order to do so, it would involve fundamental changes to our current game engine," the studio said. "Instead of modifying the entire game’s ruleset or rereleasing a partially-bugged card, we’re reworking Kitty’s design to satisfy her existing gameplay synergies and goals in a simpler way."
Originally, Kitty Pryde was a 1/0 card that could be returned to your hand to gain +2 power; the redesigned card does basically the same thing, except that the card is returned, and the power gained, at the start of each turn. It can no longer be returned and replayed in the same turn. The updated card is now in testing, and will be returned to the game in the May patch, expected to arrive in about four weeks.
Second Dinner acknowledged that it's been a "frustrating experience," particularly for players who purchased the card before it was disabled. To make up for it, the studio is giving 8,000 tokens—2,000 more than the card's purchase cost—and the Kitty Pryde base avatar to everyone who owns the current Kitty Pryde card. Then in May, when the reworked card goes live, all players will get it for free.
"The integrity of our card releases is important and must hit an acceptable bar that creates trust. We learned a lot through this process and will improve the quality of future releases. We are excited for Kitty Pryde’s return and look forward to seeing new decks with her included!"
It's kind of ironic. Kitty Pryde's phasing ability enables her to move through solid surfaces, but it can also disrupt machines and computers, causing them to malfunction or even be destroyed. Apparently the Marvel Snap card was a little too close to the source material for its own good.
