Streaming Service Crunchyroll Raises Prices Weeks After Killing its Free Tier
hubie writes:
Sony has made streaming anime pricier since buying Crunchyroll:
Crunchyroll is one of the most popular streaming platforms for anime viewers. Over the past six years, the service has raised prices for fans, and today, it announced that it's increasing monthly subscription prices by up to 20 percent.
Sony bought Crunchyroll from AT&T in 2020. At the time, Crunchyroll had 3 million paid subscribers and an additional 197 million users with free accounts, which let people watch a limited number of titles with commercials. At the time, Crunchyroll monthly subscription tiers cost $8, $10, or $15.
After its acquisition by Sony, like many large technology companies that buy a smaller, beloved product, the company made controversial changes. The Tokyo-based company folded rival Funimation into Crunchyroll; Sony shut down Funimation, which it bought in 2017, in April 2024.
In the process, Sony erased people's digital Funimation libraries that Funimation originally marketed as being available "forever, but there are some restrictions." Sony also reduced the number of free titles on Crunchyroll in 2022 before eliminating the free option completely on December 31, 2025.
Crunchyroll gets more expensiveToday, Crunchyroll raised prices for its remaining tiers. The cheapest plan, Fan, went from $8 per month to $10 per month. The Mega tier, which allows for streaming from up to four devices simultaneously, went from $12 to $14. The Ultra tier, which supports simultaneous streaming across six devices and includes access to the Crunchyroll Manga app, increased from $16 to $18.
[...] Crunchyroll said that the higher prices would "give fans more of what they love." Today's announcement pointed to "recent and upcoming" changes: teen profiles and PIN protection; multiple profiles; the ability to skip intro theme songs and ending credits; and "expanded device compatibility."
Crunchyroll's price hike may further frustrate subscribers, considering that the streaming service recently eliminated its free tier and acquired one of its strongest, and often cheaper, rivals. The result is that Crunchyroll and Netflix have the lion's share of the anime streaming market. In 2023, Wall Street research firm Bernstein Research reported that Crunchyroll (40 percent) and Netflix (42 percent) controlled 82 percent of the overseas (non-Japanese) anime streaming market.
[...] Anime is an increasingly lucrative opportunity for Sony, and its success so far suggests it won't stray from its strategy.
[...] The silver lining for anime and streaming viewers is that Crunchyroll is demonstrating that a niche service can scale and profit, and that when it does, it can add new experiences and further interest in its specialty. For its part, Crunchyroll recently relaunched its app for reading digital copies of manga. Crunchyroll shuttered its original Manga app in December 2023. The revived app uses an updated revenue-sharing model that's said to better benefit publishers.
Still, the changes that Sony makes to media companies it buys are worth scrutiny, especially as it continues acquiring companies. Sony-owned anime production company Aniplex announced that it bought rival Egg Firm today.
As streaming prices rise, industry consolidation is also picking up steam. More large companies buying and potentially merging streaming services will inevitably impact subscribers' experiences. For these customers, it can be worrying to consider what changes streaming mergers can bring. While there's hope for more features and content, there's also risk for higher prices and fewer options.
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