Sony bought Crunchyroll for $1 billion and apparently has plans to incorporate the anime streaming service into other areas of its business. That’s PlayStation Plus, specifically.
The deal was first made public back in December when Sony and Funimation made the deal with AT&T. Now that the acquisition is finalized, it “provides the opportunity for Crunchyroll and Funimation to broaden distribution for their content partners and expand fan-centric offerings for consumers,” according to Sony’s announcement.
“Crunchyroll adds tremendous value to Sony’s existing anime businesses, including Funimation and our terrific partners at Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan,” said Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra in the press release. “With Crunchyroll and Funimation, we are committed to creating the ultimate anime experience for fans and presenting a unique opportunity for our key partners, publishers, and the immensely talented creators to continue to deliver their masterful content to audiences around the world. With the addition of Crunchyroll, we have an unprecedented opportunity to serve anime fans like never before and deliver the anime experience across any platform they choose, from theatrical, events, home entertainment, games, streaming, linear TV — everywhere and every way fans want to experience their anime. Our goal is to create a unified anime subscription experience as soon as possible.”
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According to a report from Eurogamer, sources told the outlet Sony intends to include Crunchyroll as part of a more expensive PlayStation Plus subscription, but there’s no information on just how much more it would cost. Right now, PlayStation Plus has a $9.99 monthly subscription, with discounts for those who subscribe for three months ($24.99) or for a year ($59.99). So more than that, I assume. The service allows users to play online games on PlayStation 4 and 5, as well as access to free games as long as the subscription stays active.
The whole thing does mean that, between Funimation and Crunchyroll, two of the biggest distributors of anime are all sitting under Sony’s umbrella. So just a reminder that consolidation of an entire market sucks and we are, at all times, moving toward a world where like seven companies own everything you consume.
