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Amid rumors of Crunchyroll pricing changes for subscribers, Crunchyroll told ANN on Thursday that it has “no announcements regarding pricing changes at this time.” The company has clarified that some people will experience a price change if they switch from a Funimation-only subscription to Crunchyroll. ANN also asked about any possible price changes within the next two years, and Crunchyroll responded that it is difficult to predict price changes within that time frame.
The website lists that subscription prices may vary for some customers, but not all customers. Specifically, the site claims that “former” Funimation subscribers, who have enjoyed lower subscription prices even after Funimation increased costs, will see a price change when switching to Crunchyroll. . Additionally, Canadian subscribers will experience a change in the currency of their subscription. In Canada, customers with annual Funimation subscriptions will not find their current plan on Crunchyroll and will therefore have their plan canceled when Funimation closes. Funimation sent users an email about the closure and subscription pricing.
The Funimation app will shut down on April 2 as part of the ongoing consolidation of content and services from Funimation to Crunchyroll following the merger of the two companies. Each Funimation subscriber can migrate their account to Crunchyroll (including their watch history and queue) or merge their Funimation account with an existing Crunchyroll account (if the two accounts are linked together). same email address).
Funimation raised prices in August 2022 when it switched to a subscription plan that merged the service with Crunchyroll. Pricing increases from $5.99 per month to $7.99 for the Premium plan and $7.99 to $9.99 for the Premium Plus plan.
Crunchyroll made the first major price increase in its history in the US, Great Britain, Australia and the Nordics in 2019, and rolled out its multi-tiered subscription service in 2020. Current tier prices US membership is $7.99 per month for the Fan level, $9.99 per month for the Mega Fan level, and $14.99 per month for the Ultimate Fan level.
Crunchyroll announced in March 2022 that it would no longer offer ad-supported free viewing. Instead, Crunchyroll will require viewers to subscribe to access new and ongoing simulcasts. The company added that the first three episodes of each title will be available for ad-supported viewing for one week after launch on Crunchyroll until a certain time, and subsequent episodes will be limited to subscribers. register. Crunchyroll confirmed that with the anime continuing, ad-supported viewing will not be available for episodes starting in spring 2022, but episodes prior to that season will be available. The company updated its statement in September to say “AVOD content will rotate and refresh regularly.”
Funimation offers digital copies as part of certain home video DVD or Blu-ray Disc purchases, but Crunchyroll will not support Funimation’s digital copies of content. Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini stated in February in an interview with tech news website The Verge that the company is working to offer users switching from the soon-to-be-shuttered Funimation app to Crunchyroll with “a appropriate value”compensation for their digital copies. Crunchyroll has not yet determined exactly how it will compensate users “an appropriate value” for its Funimation digital copies.
Although Crunchyroll has continued to port content from Funimation to Crunchyroll since the spring 2022 anime season, it has not yet moved all Funimation content to Crunchyroll.
Sony’s Funimation Global Corporation completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021, after the company first announced the acquisition in December 2020. The purchase price was $1.175 billion and the amount Proceeds will be paid in cash at the end of the transaction. Funimation’s home video releases are currently listed in Crunchyroll.
Source: Email correspondence