Funimation is shutting down, and you'll lose access to your digital purchases
The price of a yearly subscription to Crunchyroll is also increasing
Sony is shutting down Funimation for good on April 2, 2024, as it folds the service into its other anime streaming service, Crunchyroll.
However, even though users will be able to combine their Funimation and Crunchyroll data and access their watch history and queue on the new service, you won’t be able to access any digital copies you purchased from Funimation.
“We understand that you may have concerns about your digital copies from Funimation,” a blog post on Funimation’s website reads. “Please note that Crunchyroll does not currently support Funimation Digital copies, which means that access to previously available digital copies will not be supported. However, we are continuously working to enhance our content offerings and provide you with an exceptional anime streaming experience. We appreciate your understanding and encourage you to explore the extensive anime library available on Crunchyroll.”
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Crunchyroll Funimation merger
📆 Funimation is officially closing on April 2, 2024
🤝 The anime streaming service will merge with Crunchyroll
😡 However, Funimation subscribers will lose access to any purchased digital copies
📈 The price of an annual Crunchyroll subscription is also set to increase by 82% next year
To make matters worse, as part of the transition to Crunchyroll, the price of a new Crunchyroll plan is increasing from $54.95 a year to $99.99 a year beginning January 28, 2025.
Sony, which owns Crunchyroll, purchased Funimation for $1.175 billion in 2021. And while the acquisition brought some classic anime shows and fan favorites to Crunchyroll for the first time, it’s clear that the merger isn’t as consumer-friendly as people initially thought.
Now that Crunchyroll is the most dominant anime streaming service on the market with little to no competition, it’s been able to increase its yearly subscription by a whopping 82%.
The move has reignited the debate over physical and digital ownership, as more companies look to put their content on streaming services or via a subscription-based model.
The news also comes amid growing concerns that Microsoft may put Xbox-exclusive games on PS5, which would only further cement Sony’s position as the market leader in the high-end console space. I warned that Xbox games coming to PS5 is bad for PlayStation fans, as it could lead to higher prices, less innovation, and no impetus to improve its products. The takeover of Funimation and the merger into Crunchyroll prove those fears are not unfounded.