Sony has completed its acquisition of anime streaming service Crunchyroll. Final negotiations began late last year between Sony and AT&T, the parent company of Crunchyroll, for the purchase price of 100 billion yen. The final purchase price worked out to be $1.175 billion USD.
Although we're talking about parent companies, the deal will actually see Crunchyroll rolled into Funimation Global Group, the anime subsidiary of Sony. Crunchyroll brings 120 million members and five million paid subscribers from 200 regions and countries from around the world and catapults the streaming service into competition with the likes of Netflix and Hulu.
“Crunchyroll adds tremendous value to Sony’s existing anime businesses, including Funimation and our terrific partners at Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan,” said Tony Vinciquerra, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. "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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As Crunchyroll states on their website, it's being combined with Funimation into a single entity. So far, there's no explanation on whether Crunchyroll will even continue to exist as its own entity, whether the streaming service will continue to operate, or whether subscribers will be forced to switch to a Funimation subscription.
“We know you may have questions,” the company wrote. “Today we begin the work of bringing two awesome teams together to bring you more of what you love. Thank you for your trust and support!"
Not really all that helpful. Furthermore, Crunchyroll isn’t just about streaming. Crunchyroll also provides manga, publishes mobile games, and has its own merch distribution. We’ll have to wait and see how all this shakes out.
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