Sony Acquires Anime Streaming Platform ‘Crunchyroll’ for $1.175 Billion

• Sony buys ‘Crunchyroll’ looking to grab a big piece of the growing anime streaming market pie.
• The company had bought Funimation in 2017, so this is not a new embarkment in the field.
• The cost of the deal reaches $1.175 billion, which is about $200 million more than previously rumored.

Crunchyroll, one of the largest anime content distribution, publishing, production, and streaming platforms in the world, is changing hands. AT&T has reportedly reached an agreement with the ‘Funimation Global Group,’ and they will pass Crunchyroll over to them for $1.175. Funimation is a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex, an entity belonging to Sony Music, so it’s essentially Sony buying Crunchyroll.

At this time, Crunchyroll is available in over 200 countries, allowing access to different sets of content in a typical streaming platform manner. It covers all major platforms and devices, supports offline playback, and it even offers a free streaming plan that doesn’t even require signing up. All in all, it is a super-popular anime streaming platform that is considered a must among the fans of the genre.

Sony is most likely buying Crunchyroll to produce content, as well as to strengthen its position in the anime streaming market - an admittedly niche sector. The company welcomed Funimation under its corporate umbrella back in 2017, so this new acquisition fits the business model that was set out back then and complements it further. It is estimated that the anime market will grow by a CAGR of 8.8%, reaching a size worth $36.26 billion by 2025, so Sony wants to chase a big piece of the market, ideally even dominating it.

Crunchyroll will immediately bring 3 million VOD subscribers and 90 million registered users from around the world, so there’s something to build upon for sure. Its current general manager, Joanne Waage, made the following statement on the development:

From their side, Sony Pictures Entertainment made the following statement through its CEO, Tony Vinciquerra:

Crunchyroll and Funimation had actually collaborated again in the past, signing cross-licensing deals and using the same content to mutual benefit. Sony ended these deals in 2018, but the common ground of the two has created a positive environment to proceed with the acquisition anyway.