Funimation to Officially Shutdown and Transfer to Crunchyroll; Won't Include Digital Copies

The Funimation app and website are officially shutting down on April 2, 2024, and user data, including subscriptions, will be transferred to Crunchyroll. The yearly subscription price for the service is also going up from $54.95 per year to $99.99 per year – this change will take effect on January 28, 2025.

One thing that won’t be moving to Crunchyroll are Funimation Digital copies. These could be added to user’s libraries by entering a code included in a DVD or Blu-ray purchase and they were digital streaming versions of episodes or movies bought. Crunchyroll doesn’t currently support this service.

The official statement was posted on Funimation’s website, which is still region-locked. Crunchyroll absorbed Funimation and Wakanim under its brand in 2022 – months after Sony’s purchase of Crunchyroll went through. Funimation had previously merged with AnimeLab – a streaming service that was dedicated to the Australia and New Zealand area. VRV, a service that was dubbed as “Crunchyroll’s son” was also merged with the platform in April of last year.

Through Crunchyroll, Sony Entertainment now holds a big chunk of the anime streaming market in the West. AMC’s HIDIVE, Netflix, and more recently Disney and Hulu are the only other platforms involved in anime streaming and to a lesser extent, production.

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