Summary
After much anticipation, Sony‘s Funimation is officially acquiring Crunchyroll and rebranding the company under the more well-known moniker Crunchyroll, adding unnecessary confusion to the situation.
merger of Funimation and Crunchyroll
Even while this merger seems like Crunchyroll is taking over, it’s really the other way around, with Crunchyroll keeping its applications while Funimation’s services vanish (as if the name change wasn’t confusing enough). It seems Sony believes Crunchyroll is a better familiar term. Users will regrettably be impacted by the merger, particularly those who have paid real money for material on Funimation.
Therefore, I’ve gone through the specifics to explain precisely what you may anticipate if you’re concerned about how the merging of Funimation and Crunchyroll may effect you, your library, or how you watch anime and play games. As expected, the news isn’t good as it seems like Sony is the only party benefiting from the transaction.
When will the services offered by Funimation end?
The deadline is drawing near.
On April 2, 2024, Funimation will cease operations, and Chrunchyroll will take over.
When Funimation goes down, will I have to create an account on Crunchyroll?
Sony gave its fans a good deal.
Nope, using your current Funimation login credentials will allow you to check in without having to establish a Crunchyroll account, which is really easy and much appreciated.
Can I no longer access the Funimation stuff I bought?
You own no digital stuff, surprise!
Regretfully, starting April 2nd, access to premium digital Funimation content coupons will no longer be available to anybody who has bought or redeemed them. You may blame Sony for this since it doesn’t want to add paid material to Crunchyroll; now, the service only offers streaming, which needs a monthly membership. Everything you have purchased over the years will be lost. Evidence that paying for digital entertainment is a futile endeavor for users.
There is a bright side, however. Crunchyroll is having massive closeout deals on physical products as Funimation comes to an end, so be sure to get all you can while supplies last.
Will the cost of streaming increase?
You’re aware of it
Since Sony is unlikely to pass up the opportunity to increase Funimation’s user fees, the $5.99 Funimation Premium Plus plan will expire along with the service and be replaced by the current $9.99 monthly fee that grants access to Crunchyroll material on four devices. Even the $7.99 Crunchyroll package, which is limited to one screen at a time, is more costly than the monthly fees that Funimation broadcasters were paying. To put it simply, you will be paying more each month if you switch from Funimation to Crunchyroll.
Will every episode of Funimations be available on Crunchyroll?
For everyone, getting a license is a huge hassle.
No, not every program on Funimation will be available on Crunchyroll. While a significant portion is anticipated to transition over time, Funimation presently licenses some series, thus this is not certain. While enthusiasts have been busy listing everything that is missing, it would be good to see Sony come clean and tell everyone precisely what will and won’t make the switch so that buyers can make wise choices. My breath will not be held. Crunchyroll does, at the very least, mention every program it has, which is more than most streaming providers can do.
Will the transfer cause me to lose my watch history?
It’s never pleasant to start afresh.
You can save your viewing history, but in order to sync your account and combine or replace your data, you must first log in to Crunchyroll using your Funimation login information. After that, you may choose to retain your Crunchyroll data alone. These are very helpful alternatives that ought to accommodate consumers’ preferences.
What then is the actual harm?
the knowledge that it would be foolish to trust digital platforms with our purchases
Although it seems Sony is attempting to ensure a seamless merger in terms of transferring your viewing history, it is very repulsive to lose any and all digitally acquired Funimation titles.
Even worse, this will continue until customers express their frustration. Similar moves were made by Amazon, which completely destroyed people’s manga and comic book collections when it finally stopped using Comixology’s software, and Sony, which had been in the news lately due to Playstation users possibly losing their digital Discovery content purchases, was thankfully stopped before it happened, probably as a result of a barrage of negative headlines.
Since our access is being arbitrarily threatened, it seems that Sony and other large firms believe our digital purchases aren’t worth all that much. To be honest, this is unacceptable and ought to be criminal since these deletions clearly fall under the category of theft.
