Things are about to change for Crunchyroll, as the Sony finalized the acquisition of the anime streaming service. It is now a part of Funimation Global Group, LLC, its rival anime streaming service.
Everything began back in August 2020. That’s when AT&T details about WarnerMedia sales came up and Crunchyroll was mentioned as being up for sale. News concerning the deal first came up in October 2020. At the time, Sony and AT&T announced they were in negotiations for the service. Then in December 2020, it was officially announced. Sony noted the acquisition of Crunchyroll would cost $1.175 billion. Now, the deal is final and the company is the complete owner of the service.
This marks one of multiple Sony anime endeavors. Aniplex falls under Sony Music Entertainment Japan. (As does do its subsidiaries, Madman Anime Group and Wakanim.) The company also already owns Funimation, which has a UK branch and is the namesake of the Funimation Global Group.
Sony didn’t reveal how this might affect the way Crunchyroll operates. Likewise, the official announcement on the Crunchyroll website doesn’t mention anything yet. However, the Funimation blog offered the following statement, which confirmed the Sony Crunchyroll acquisition will lead to “the opportunity to create a unified anime subscription experience.”
