Sony Poised to Purchase Crunchyroll for Almost $1 Billion

Not a fan of this news. Don't like the idea of a company becoming the Disney of anime.

I'm gonna be honest I didn't expect this to happen, but it makes too much sense for them not to do, especially with them owning FUNimation

But Sony aren't about acquiring businesses to increase its portfolio.

Waifu's for everyone!!!

Seriously though, Mr Monopoly should take a look at this one. I also guess this is what Sony and AT&T were talking about rather than WB Films & Games.

Don't even know what crunchyroll is?

This makes sense considering the fact Sony is the Anime market leader for the last decade heck one of their movies just grossed over 100m dollars for an anime movie it is huge and do not forget Sony's most successful game is an anime game ( Fate Grand Order ) that has grossed more than $5b and the game did not even launch world-wide it is only on NA Japan Australia Southeast Asia and China and Korea

But seriously Aniplex needed an Anime games division that is separate from PlayStation it has a treasure trove of IPs that a developer like Level-5 can work with it and stop loaning it to Bandai Namco just to make a mediocre fighting game

@East76landS Basically netflix for anime

Surprised, they seem to hate Japanese anime in their games, yet commit to it here. I wouldn’t trust them to leave output unmolested though.

What does this mean for PlayStation? Absolutely nothing I bet. Sony would of been better off using that money to acquire another big gaming developer or a couple of smaller ones, anything to at least try and counter MS’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media. After all PlayStation is Sony’s main money maker.

Crunchyroll is that a new cereal or a potatoes chips.wtf sony.aquire bluepoint.kojima.housemarque.etc.word up son

Weeb 😛

Also I want berserk and claymore open world AAA games from sony 😁

Hey if this leads to 1st party anime games i'm all for it ^__^

So much negativity in the comment sections. Yikes. Not that I'm surprised at this point...

Could be a good move for Sony. I'm intrigued.

@__jamiie Sony has never made this claim, nor have fans made this claim in their stead.

I assume this is a comment based around the more recent talk of game studio acquisitions? Putting aside the fact that this is a completely separate market, run by completely separate people, making their own independent choices; Sony specifically stated in their most recent interview where they talk about wanting to grow studios organically, that they will still "bolster our in-house capability with selective mergers and acquisitions."

@Menchi Ah ok, I thought only Japanese people really watched that stuff. Is there really that much of it ?

I'm not sure what this acquisition will change in terms of quality and quantity of Anime Crunchyroll has been offering.

Very worrying, especially with Sony’s prolific censorship at the moment.

@wiiware Damm I still remember the days when SIE produced anime games ( they were quite obsessed with the Bleach Series ) heck I remember that the last game Sony published for the Vita is an anime game

I believe Sony also already owns Madman Anime and Manga Entertainment UK, so it really is a big sector for Sony.

It seemed like Sony was going to make a few more acquisitions of game studios, so hopefully they're ones that make sense for us if they still happen.

Would love a Gravity Rush anime, they made at least three Persona animes and a Final Fantasy anime through their own studio, so they could do a Gravity Rush anime.

Is hard to trust Sony this days but if they know how to play their cards and unite everything on a single streaming service for a decent price this could be amazing

@thedevilsjester Jim Ryan (a Sony employee) made a comment which everyone perceived to be a dig at Microsoft buying Bethesda. PlayStation have been buying game studies outright since 1993 so his argument falls a completely flat.

He also stated a few months ago that he and PlayStation "believe in console generations". Again this was a dig at Microsoft's Smart Delivery/free upgrade approach. Then they announce a massive U-Turn and that huge PS5 launch titles are also being made for PS4.

Jim Ryan is full of it.

@East76landS Multi billion euro/dollar industry

@Caliburn08 Can you imagined full AAA open world Berserk games? It's just like ghost of tshushima but way bloodier with demons and stuff 😃

Somewhat concerning as it feel Sony’s gaming division has been distancing itself from anime games and its “quirks”. Also having been a Crunchyroll subscriber for years I do feel in recent times less shows have been licensed with greater emphasis on their original shows that feel less like the “homegrown” content. Of course this division could go a completely separate way; plus if Funimation and Crunchyroll unite I only have to pay 1 subscription....I hope.

@FX102A because Aniplex used to make shows for Crunchyroll but when they bought Funimation the inflow of new animes for Crunchyroll stopped since Sony prioritized putting their animes on their own platform so now Crunchyroll had to produce animes like Sony does so series like Tower of God and God of Highschool exists

Which is better? Crunchyroll or Funimation?

Sony don’t need to counter Xbox at all in regards to Bethesda buyout.

@Snake_V5 as of now Funimation they got an amazing lineup compare to Crunchyroll like Demon Slayer Love is War, Fire Force Saekano, Promised Neverland and SAO:Alicization and Bunny Girl Senpai heck some Netflix produced shows are now on Funimation

Not happy. I don’t want an Anime streaming Monopoly. I went to Crunchyroll because I don’t like how Funi works and Netflix subs are hard to read.

@__jamiie In the same interview he made that comment, he ALSO said: that they will still "bolster our in-house capability with selective mergers and acquisitions." (direct quote). Their focus is not on acquisitions, but they will still make them where it makes sense.

As for the generations thing, there is no excuse for that. They could easily have said that they believe in generations, but also do not want to leave the last generation behind out of the gate. Instead they pretended like it was black and white at launch.

@SaikoWaifu2003 Sony also owned it thou or at least have a sizable stake in the company

@AdamNovice Then by that reasoning Microsoft's purchase of Bethesda makes perfect sense. They've had long-standing relationships with most of those devs for many years via games for Windows.

@StevieJ_UK1 not anymore if they created sequels I know Demon Slayer got it ( heck even won the award at Crunchyroll ) but if the movie came out it will be an exclusive and the SAO I referring is the new one so is the upcoming S2 of Promised Neverland and the new Saekano Movie and I don't remember Crunchyroll having Kaguya-sama: Love is War or at least the latest season

@thedevilsjester True. It just seemed like an unnecessary dig considering both sides have done and will do the same thing whenever possible. Both would love to build studios organically and both will buy studios outright whenever it makes sense to them.

PlayStation and Sony are essentially separate companies. They own Funimation, but Game Pass has a free two months of Funimation Premium with a sub.

I'm afraid Sony might end up having a monopoly on the anime industry.

I see a few here asking what this has to do with Playstation - but I can see its potential. Its another App they can put on their console and even add it as a perk for PS+ subscribers. A discounted subscription? Free Subscription? Free Anime movie(s) to watch every week/month.

I don't know enough about Crunchyroll and Anime movies/licences. I don't know if that would open up avenues for Sony to make Anime based games or have a more impactful benefit to Playstation gamers in some way - but I can see some advantages to PS owners as mentioned above.

I don't have an insiders knowledge of Sony and how they operate. If Crunchyroll is popular globally, and its a subscription service, like netflix, then that brings in a steady stream of money then that can be invested into gaming or at the very least, stop money from Sony's gaming division going to other areas if/when they struggle.

It can make Sony a 'stronger' financial company and potentially offer gamers cheaper subscriptions, free movies etc. Its not as exciting as a new game studio but its not completely pointless news...

@Darthroseman separate companies that is far from the truth

@__jamiie Yeah, it depends on interpretation, I didn't see it as a dig, I saw it as Sony explaining why they are not going to go out and buy up studios just to counter Microsofts acquisitions because all of the internet seemed to be trying to goad both sides into an an acquisition fight.

@East76landS I thought it was a sicko porn site.

@David187 They operate almost entirely independently. They can lean on each other for things. Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Long John Silvers are the "same company". But even when you have a Taco Bell/Long John Silvers joint building, they don't serve fish tacos.

@StevieJ_UK1 yeah hoping they fixed the licensing issue cause when I read the article it included more than a 1,200 anime licenses in the deal which is basically the entire catalogue but I don't expect a name change or a merger more like Crunchyroll gets Funimation anime and Funimation gets Crunchyroll anime probably Sony is doing a perceive competition with two different brands on the same market just like Facebook and Instagram

No thanks. This is a legitimate monopoly if this deal goes through. Good thing there’s always other ways.

@mousieone If the subtitles on Netflix are hard to read because of size, you can enlarge them through the website in settings. Most, if not all, devices should display larger subtitles once this setting has been changed. Hope this is helpful.

@Gravity_Bear thank you.

However it’s not the size; it’s the speed.

Netflix runs subtitles like captions, so the speed they are on the screen isn’t enough. The other issue is when another character speaks; it’s in the same text line. Where as usually subs are overlayed and the timing and positioning is constructed on such a way that they are more readable. Although the DQ movie was better.

@Darthroseman you are so wrong

@Constable_What Couldn't agree more with you there. I don't like monopolies. I enjoy a lot of Crunchyroll's anime offerings, but it's the independence and small company that makes their model appealing.

In the best case scenario, Sony will take a hands-off approach and it will simply infuse Crunchyroll with a lot of capital, but in the worst case, it will censor things more at the very least.

The hell are people talking about a monopoly, I didn’t know Funimation and Crunchyroll were the only makers of anime and it’s not like they are doing so great in their own and besides that what other company offers anime as their only focus, getting everything into one place it’s the best thing for consumers instead multiple services fighting for the licenses to stream

@GKO900 lol @ monopoly is good for consumers.
You couldn't have said a less sensible thing, to be honest.

Competition is good cause if one does well, the rivals are bound to up their game to stay afloat.
In the case of a monopoly, just look at Disney churning out terrible, completely unwanted "live action" (actually CGI) remakes of their classics, and they even have sequels of those remakes in the pipeline.
Yay for originality and quality spurred on by monopoly!

@MaccaMUFC Sony is Playstation its the same company its interesting news. Maybe they will release the service in the Benelux.

@clvr what competition here in the west you talk about? they only get the rights to stream and this is a niche market to begin with

If only i have seen this much concern when ms bought Bethesda. To be honest i don't understand the negativity here.

What @GKO900 said is right, it's only a streaming service they won't own the studios that make the anime.

@Severian dude Crunchyroll are owned by AT&T not exactly small are they and Sony Aniplex lineup has been amazing this year and I don't see any censor in fact Sony are the ones that are known in the industry in making sexually infused animes like OreImo SAO, Eromanga-sensei, Seven Deadly Sins and to the point their works are getting banned in Australia

And AT&T really need to jettison this they are like $200billion in debt and this sale will help to to pay off some of their debt

@Caliburn08 thank you for explaining

@StevieJ_UK1 But expect fanservice to be censored.

@__jamiie @thedevilsjester Also this isn't the purchase of a game studio. It's hardly even relevant to the Xbox vs PS discussion. The threat of Crunchyroll becoming exclusive to Playstation is nil. It's a streaming service. It has nothing to do with who plays what games on what console.

Great move, you don’t need to worry about 2 services Funimation and Crunchyroll. I can pay a bit higher if there is only 1 service. Currently Crunchyroll has more line up and Funimation has more dubbed and less expensive.

@GKO900 I was talking monopolies and competition in general, since you seemed to be welcoming the idea of one big company having the rights to everything in that space.

Also, anime is no more niche than video games nowadays.

@nessisonett Stupid comment. So you are saying that Sony is being a monopoly for having two anime streaming services but won't criticize Microsoft buying all of Zenimax? Microsoft has spent more money then Sony within a year, not to mention that Microsoft isn't done buying studios now to me that's a monopoly get your facts straight.

@Odin1985x Do Microsoft now have a majority of the largest video game companies for buying Zenimax? No they do not. Would Sony have a majority of the largest anime streaming services after buying Crunchyroll? Yes they would. Look up the word monopoly in a dictionary, you absolute bread bin.

@zupertramp It seems pretty relevant to me. Sony could restrict content from rival console manufacturers or if it keeps things as is, get revenue from other console owners.

If you don't think it's relevant though then speak to the editors who deemed it worthy to write about on a PlayStation website.

@__jamiie that's true, like the way they check to see if you own an xbox before they let you into a Sony pictures film.

@nessisonett Microsoft has 23 studios and the the ip rights to the biggest games franchise in gaming that restricts other platforms rumors are saying they are after more big studios. Microsoft has spent well over 7.5 billion on gaming studios this past year that's being a monopoly to which studio they are after to buy is multiple to boost their exclusive lineup. I don't see Sony buying boats loads of studios, I don't get it, if Sony does something like buying a studio it's a monopoly heck when they bought Insomniac ppl are saying they are being a monopoly cause of Spiderman but when Microsoft buys Zenimax that two biggest franchises are exclusive to Microsoft only is totally fine. Microsoft is the one who is being a monopoly in the gaming industry. Not to mention that Bethesda and a few other Zenimax subsidiaries aren't small and they do have well known ip like Doom, Evil Within, and Dishonored to which those games will never be on Sony Ps.

@Snake_V5 Depends what you are watching. If you prefer watching Dubs, funimation is probably your best bet, although Crunchyroll has a much bigger back catalogue the majority of it is subs. I personally prefer Hi-Dive it runs much better than either of the other two. Funimation apps and website are a joke. Crunchy' s aren't much better. Hi-Dive at least looks lie it was made in this decade.

@badbob001 good I'm glad. Fanservice is the worst part of anime.

@zupertramp You know that's not the same thing so stop being childish.

Have you decided if it's a relevant topic yet by the way? You're commenting quite a lot on something that you don't think should be news on a PlayStation site.

@nessisonett only in the western hemisphere really. Japan and easterm Asian countries don't really stream Anime. It's a western thng really. Anime, although a massive industry, exsits to support manga. They still look at Bluray/DVD and Merch sales as proof of success of anime, not viewers on TV or online. It hardly matters to them.

@Odin1985x Ok. It looks like you don’t know what monopoly means. A monopoly means you have a majority of control over a certain market. If Sony bought Crunchyroll, they would have a majority of control over Western anime streaming. Microsoft buying studios isn’t a majority or even anything close. There are still companies like EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, all Sony first parties and many, many more.

@__jamiie Yes it's irrelevant. That's half of why I clicked oddly enough. I thought it might relate somehow. It doesn't.

And my analogy was about as absurd as bringing up Microsoft, Bethesda, or Jim Ryan. It's just not an acquisition that will have any meaningful impact on the ever tiresome console wars.

@Constable_What Will the fact that they are the biggest streaming platforms for anime matter if Sony can still point to the existence of other more generalized streaming services? Asking earnestly here, not being argumentative.

@nessisonett I think you missed the point. Microsoft is being a monopoly, doesn't matter if these studios are not E.A or Ubisoft but Zenimax is quite large and the ips are highly known. And how can Sony being a monopoly when Netflix, Kissanmie are options and a few are streaming apps are available? You literally have no idea what are saying.. I don't see Sony taking Funimation off of other platforms so idk how that is being a monopoly? You have other options to watch anime Crunchyroll and Funimation are more well known owning two streaming services for anime isn't being a monopoly when there are so many to stream off of. Microsoft has been buying studios up to which they said they are after another big studio which rumors are saying it could be bigger than Zenimax to which studio I don't know to which it's only a rumor but my bet it's Ubisoft and Sega.

@clvr This is one company getting one single focus anime not like Disney getting all movies rights in every single genre and every big company in the competition, in other words not the same and no I don’t support monopolies

@Odin1985x Kissanime are pirating therefore not valid, Netflix/other streaming sites like Hulu or Prime are not dedicated anime streaming and don’t have the breadth of options that Funimation and Crunchyroll have. Microsoft just don’t own a majority of video game companies and never will. Please, please get it into your head that a monopoly means a majority. Crunchyroll and Funimation are the main Western anime streaming services. Owning both plus Aniplex removes competition. Microsoft are not a monopoly and literally never will be. They can’t without buying Sony and Nintendo.

@nessisonett Again read, I never said they own every gaming company but buying up studios is being a monopoly. Like I said if they are buying more studios and one could be bigger than Zenimax. Netflix has quite alot of Anime not as big but still big enough.

@GKO900 another one who doesn't understand what a monopoly is.
Please refer to @nessisonett's and @Constable_What's comments where they both explain how and why the biggest anime streaming services converging into one single company is indeed a monopoly in the anime space.

@Odin1985x buying up studios IS NOT being a monopoly; it becomes one when one company owns the majority of a single niche, line pf products or whatever.
As has already been said to you, the day MS buys out both Sony and Nintendo, therefore being the only company with a dedicated console, only then it would be a monopoly in terms of gaming hardware.

It still wouldn't be in terms of software, though, as long as huge companies like EA, Activision, SEGA, Square Enix and Ubisoft maintain their independence.

The day this all fits nicely under the green umbrella you'll be free to call MS a monopoly as much as you want.

@clvr Sony doesn't own the franchises they just stream them, SAO is on Netflix, Fairy Tail on Netflix but also on Funimation. How is that a monopoly? Yeah the lists is not as big but still there are other streaming apps to watch anime not just these two.

Buying amounts of studios less than a year is a monopoly.

@Constable_What Hmm. Yeah I seem to remember during the Sirius XM merger there were rumblings they'd have a monopoly over satellite radio but iirc the argument was that they were in competition with other types of music services so their dominance over satellite was idk immaterial I guess. Seems a bit suspect to me but the merger went through. This is a different situation to be sure but from all that I was kinda given the impression our monopoly laws are rather lenient.

So can they merge funimation and crunchyroll so I only have to pay for 1 subscription lol

@zupertramp I completely agree the console wars are tiresome.

I was there for the only real console war! SNES v Megadrive. We didn't have fancy subscription based services! We didn't have the option of charging our controllers! We didn't have the luxury of huge day one patches! We weren't able to pay to play our friends!

It was brutal man. Brutal.

@mousieone Ah yes, it's a shame that subtitles aren't done a bit better. Even having more options to modify the way they are displayed and their timing would be nice.

@__jamiie At the time I thought Sega was way cooler but then again I was a child at the time and didn't own either so what the heck did I know. Now I can't imagine a world that doesn't still produce Mario games.

@clvr They just get the rights to stream they don’t own the shows big difference that’s not a monopoly or is Netflix a monopoly to you and they also stream some anime, in my point of view I see no problem in a service dedicated to anime that is unified meaning only one bill that’s actually worth the cost instead of multiple with only a couple that I really care, but to each their own

@GKO900 it’s not a problem until it is. There are a variety of issues having competition generally prevents like rate increases, product quality, or censorship. Two years from now when there is no choice and it’s twice the price and horrible output; you’ll understand.

@zupertramp I completely agree.

I know it's bad for big companies to consolidate power over art, but Crunchyroll is such a terribly mismanaged mess of a company that anything with the potential to spark change is welcome. As of now, their service is unusably bad on most platforms.

@GKO900 but it's exactly the fact that they distribute anime that creates the problem: it doesn't matter who owns the product, if you only have one distributor you are "forced" to subscribe to that distributor.
If Netflix distributed every series in existence, including those produced by other companies, they'd still be a monopoly.

@Odin1985x Well ok then, if you want to believe your utter BS go on.
Silly me for still being surprised by people refuting facts as if they were opinions.

I actually think that Xbox partnering with retailers to subsidise digital purchases is a much bigger deal than anything else so far in this new-ish generation. GameStop and other brick and mortar stores have a massive incentive to sell Xbox because they'll make money on any digital purchase that gamer ever makes. Is that fair? Will that change retail stores?

A real question I have is how much of the IP do the platforms own. It is not common in TV to pass IP rights to platforms even when that platform may be offering up front finance to have the programming made.

Thanks for clarifying that almost $1billion is over $900million.

@ibiris I believe it was 957 million.

Monopolies are never a great idea for consumers. But I’d rather have a Japanese company control it than an American one.

@__jamiie only the most gullible gamers or clueless parents of kids buy anything through GameStop, EB Games or any of the brick and mortar stores. Their practices are garbage, they treat their staff horribly and the prices are obscene.
My local EB Games still tries to sell second hand games for 80% or more of the highest RRP. Then they try to sell you ‘insurance’ as if you can’t look after a game disc like an adult. Not to mention exclusive DLC which you can only get if you pre order... sheesh.

I’m not saying support Amazon either just because they have the lowest prices. Have some ethics when buying games. It’s not hard to support the industry you love.