By getting its hands on Crunchyroll through its company Funimation, Sony is consolidating a veritable empire dedicated to anime. The Japanese firm now owns the three main platforms in the sector, with ADN and Wakanim.
It’s official, Sony will rhyme more than ever with animated in the years to come. Already the owner of Wakanim since 2019 through its subsidiary Funimation, the Japanese giant has just completed the acquisition of the American Crunchyroll, announced at the end of 2020, for 1.175 billion dollars. With this transaction, it even kills two birds with one stone since Crunchyroll is the majority shareholder of the VIZ Media Europe group (since renamed Crunchyroll SAS), which owns the VoD platform Anime Digital Network, better known by its abbreviation ADN.
It is therefore a gigantic anime empire that Sony is building, which now controls the three main platforms in the sector. When the takeover was announced, the American authorities had expressed their concern and investigated to bring to light possible anti-competitive practices. It is necessary to believe that these investigations did not yield anything. Yet, beyond subscription streaming, the combination of Crunchyroll, Wakanim, DNA, and all the companies around it, gives Sony a stranglehold on the entire industry, including when it comes to publishing. manga, derivative products, the development of mobile games or events related to these brands.
Towards a common platform dedicated to anime?
The Japanese firm is not mistaken, and has largely spread its triumph in the press release accompanying the sale. “With the arrival of Crunchyroll, we have an unprecedented opportunity to serve anime fans like never before and bring them the anime experience on any platform they choose, whether it’s acts from movie theaters, events, home entertainment, gaming, streaming, linear TV — anywhere and any way fans want to experience their anime.”, boasts Tony Vinciquerra, the big boss of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Ambitious, the latter even speaks of a “unified subscription experience” future.