It’s been a long time coming, but Sony’s Funimation is finally absorbing Crunchyroll while taking on the more popular name Crunchyroll for the brand, making things more confusing than they need to be. It appears Sony feels Crunchyroll is a more recognizable moniker, so even though this merger sounds like Crunchyroll is taking over, it’s actually the other way around despite how Crunchyroll will retain its apps as Funimation’s services disappear (as if the name change wasn’t confusing enough). Sadly, the merger will affect users, especially those who have invested real dollars in content on Funimation.
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So, if you’re worried about how the Funimation and Crunchyroll merger may affect you, your library, or how you watch anime and play games, I’ve gone through the details to report exactly what you can expect. As anticipated, things don’t sound great, as Sony appears to be the only winner of this merger.
When will Funimation services shut down?
The end date is upon us
Funimation will end its service on April 2nd 2024, allowing Chrunchyroll to take its place.
Will I need to make a Crunchyroll account after Funimation shuts down?
Sony did fans a solid
Nope, you won’t need to create a Crunchyroll account sign-in; you can use your existing Funimation credentials to log on, which is convenient and appreciated.
Will I lose access to my purchased Funimation content?
Surprise, you don’t own any digital content
Sadly anyone who has purchased or redeemed codes for premium digital Funimation content will lose access to that content on April 2nd. Everything you bought over the years will be gone, and you can thank Sony for that as it doesn’t want to add paid content to Crunchyroll, it’s streaming only that requires a monthly subscription. Proof positive paying for digital content is a losing game for consumers.
However, there is a silver lining. As Funimation closes, Crunchyroll is offering big closeout sales on physical items, so grab what you can while stock lasts.
Will streaming prices go up?
You know it
It’s not like Sony is going to pass up a chance to raise prices on Funimation users, and so the old Funimation Premium Plus plan for $5.99 will die with the service, replaced with the existing $9.99 subscription price to access content across four devices on Crunchyroll. Sure, you could drop down to the $7.99 Crunchyroll plan that only works on one screen at a time, but even that is more expensive than what Funimation streamers were paying monthly. Suffice it to say that if you’re moving from Funimation to Crunchyroll, you will be paying more month to month.
Will all of Funimations shows transfer to Crunchyroll?
Licensing is a pain and thensome, for everyone
No, not all shows on Funimation will make the jump to Crunchyroll. A large percentage is expected to make the move with time, but there are shows that Funimation currently licenses that aren’t guaranteed. Fans have been busy cataloging what is missing, but it sure would be nice to see Sony out in front telling everyone exactly what will and won’t make the jump so consumers can make informed decisions. I won’t hold my breath. At the very least, Crunchyroll does list out every show it offers, which is more than most streaming services can muster.
Will I lose my watch history in the transfer?
Starting over is never fun
You can keep your watch history, but you will first have to sign in to Crunchyroll with your Funimation credentials to sync your account, affording you the choice of combining your data, replacing your data, or simply continue saving Crunchyroll data exclusively. These are very welcome options that should suit users, no matter their preference.
So what’s the real damage?
The realization that trusting digital platforms with our purchases is a fool’s errand
While it would appear Sony is trying to make the merger as smooth as possible when it comes to carrying over your watch history, the loss of any and all digitally purchased Funimation content is pretty disgusting. Worse, this will keep happening until consumers say they’ve had enough. Amazon pulled a similar move decimating people’s manga and comic libraries when the company finally ditched Comixology’s software, and Sony had recently been in the news as Playstation users could have potentially lost their purchased digital Discovery content, but thankfuly was resolved before it happened, likely spurred from a storm of bad press. It would seem Sony and other big corporations feel our digital purchases aren’t worth all that much as our access is threatened willy-nilly, and frankly it’s inexcusable and should be highly illegal when these removals fit the definition of theft.
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