Sony Acquires WarnerMedia’s Crunchyroll For $1.8 Billion

Sony-owned Funimation has bought the leading anime streaming service for an amount close to $1.2 billion.

The streaming service is a direct-to-consumer platform with over 3 million paying subscribers and an impressive 90 million-plus registered users coming in from all over the globe.

Crunchyroll is famous for its streaming of animation content and has been very successful in Vulture reports.

“The Crunchyroll team has done an extraordinary job of not only growing the Crunchyroll brand but also building a passionate community of anime fans. Crunchyroll’s success is a direct result of the company’s culture and commitment to their fans,” said Tony Goncalves, WarnerMedia’s CRO, in a statement. “By combining with Funimation, they will continue to nurture a global community and bring more anime to more people. I’m incredibly proud of the Crunchyroll team and what they have been able to accomplish in the digital media space in such a short period of time. They’ve created an end-to-end global ecosystem for this incredible art form.”

Tony Vinciquerra, Sony’s Chairman and CEO of Picture Entertainment, added, “We are proud to bring Crunchyroll into the Sony family. Through Funimation and our terrific partners at Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan, we have a deep understanding of this global art form and are well-positioned to deliver outstanding content to audiences around the world. Together with Crunchyroll, we will create the best possible experience for fans and greater opportunity for creators, producers, and publishers in Japan and elsewhere. Funimation has been doing this for over 25 years, and we look forward to continuing to leverage the power of creativity and technology to succeed in this rapidly growing segment of entertainment.”

The recent acquisition has to anticipated outcomes. First, it gives Sony a chance to compete with Netflix, and second, it will provide the company with an impactful presence in Japan’s anime industry. Sony plans on adding Crunchyroll’s millions of members and subscribers to their portfolio of anime streaming, as well as to its production companies, Polygon reports.

From a financial standpoint, Sony looks forward to bringing in profits from the anime’s international growth. In 2017 and 2018, the industry nearly doubled in revenue—about $19 billion.

The fate of Crunchyroll—which is already limited—streaming on platforms like HBO Max is unknown. When the announcement was made, there was no mention of what would happen when Sony takes over.