Sony to close Funimation, shifts catalog to Crunchyroll with a 55% price hike

Sony recently announced its plans to shut down the popular anime streaming platform, FUNimation, after its catalog of titles was moved to Sony's other and more popular anime platform, Crunchyroll, in 2022. Additionally, the company has announced a significant price hike in the services offered by Crunchyroll, with an increase from $55 to $100 per year, representing a 55% rise, effective from January 2025.

Sony is allowing Funimation customers to transfer their viewing history and queue to Crunchyroll. However, the platform will not support digital copies redeemed through Funimation, causing users to lose access to their previously available digital copies. It's worth noting that this refers to an option Funimation users had to obtain a digital version of any Blu-ray or DVD content they purchased previously, giving them the ability to store and view the show or movie through the streaming service.

The ongoing merger between Crunchyroll and Funimation seems to be leading to fewer choices and higher prices for consumers, especially considering the removal of Crunchyroll's free tier in 2022. Some legal alternatives for users who don't want to switch to Crunchyroll could be HIDIVE, Tubi, or the anime selection on Netflix, although it must be admitted that Crunchyroll currently has almost a monopoly in the anime streaming services in terms of content.