Why You Can't Trade Cards In Marvel Snap

There are a lot of cards to collect in Marvel Snap. This outrageous number of cards only gets more significant when you factor in the multiple Variants for each card. Players will know there is no way to buy cards in bulk in Marvel Snap. Unlike other card games that allow players to buy as many packs of cards as they want, Marvel Snap's progression is gated by your Collection Level. By upgrading your existing cards and increasing your Collection Level, you will unlock more cards to upgrade. 

This leaves many fans frustrated as they not only have zero access to the cards they want to use but may not have access for a very long time. Collector's Tokens seek to alleviate this problem somewhat, but wouldn't everything be more accessible if you could trade cards? Marvel Snap has jokingly been referred to as an "Uncollectible Card Game" as opposed to the more typical TCG, and it's clear to see why. So, let's find out if you can trade cards in Marvel Snap!

Can You Trade Cards In Marvel Snap

Unfortunately, it is not possible to trade cards in Marvel Snap and it seems highly unlikely this feature will come to the game in the near future. Read on and we'll explain precisely why.

Why You Can't Trade Cards In Marvel Snap

Game Director Ben Brode recently responded to popular gaming news outlet Polygon in response to their query about trading.  Here is what he had to say:

"Trading would be rad! We actually had dreams about doing some kind of trading system once upon a time. As we developed more of our systems, however, it started to get a bit more complex."

Brode states that during initial development, Infinity splitting a card would not create a copy, thereby saturating the trading market. The cosmetic you receive from Infinity Splitting would be completely random. Brode was also kind enough to outline the concept for trading before Variants and Infinity Splitting became too complex to support such a feature:

• "You cannot trade away 'base' cards, only cosmetically enhanced cards like variants, foils, that sort of thing."
• "You can only make one trade a day."
• "Once a card is traded, it can never be traded again." Brode referred to this as "Soulbound."
• "Traded cards would come with additional UI elements that tell you who you got them from and when." This feature is very reminiscent of traded Pokémon retaining their original trainer ID and catch location.
• "One single card must be traded for another single card."
• "When there is a mismatch in card rarity, Marvel Snap would display some kind of message alerting you to that disparity."

Brode concluded his response by stating, "We basically gave everyone a photocopier to make their own copies as many times as they wanted, which breaks the ‘trading’ market because increasing supply is essentially free."

Why you can’t trade cards in Marvel Snap, according to Ben Brode https://t.co/gQ3qekn60Gpic.twitter.com/yL8oQg2kHG

— Polygon (@Polygon) January 16, 2023

Although it seems highly unlikely, some kind of trading market in the future is not out of the question. Marvel Snap is continuously trying to push the boundaries of fun and exciting card battler content, whether it be added game modes or a versus mode with friends. Brode even went on to add, "I love how trading systems create stories and encourage social interaction. Hopefully, we can figure something out someday, despite these enormous challenges."

Trading may be on the horizon for Marvel Snap, so all we can do now is patiently wait. 

For more Marvel Snap news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below: