Sony are reportedly considering adding Crunchyroll to a more expensive premium PlayStation Plus service, after their acquisition finalization.
As previously reported, Sony was in talks with AT&T to acquire Crunchy Roll; giving it control over that and Funimation. While the results of a United States Antitrust Probe are still ongoing, Sony recently announced they had finalized the acquisition.
In its report, Eurogamer states “There are also plans to potentially offer Crunchyroll as part of a more expensive premium PlayStation Plus offering, Eurogamer understands.” Eurogamer did not specify if the information came via a source who wished to remain anonymous, but that would be the most likely candidate.
PlayStation Plus offered a three month free trial of Funimation as part of the Play at Home initiative. VGC also reports that Sony is testing PlayStation Plus Video Pass in Poland; granting PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users access to around 20 movies and TV shows.
It is also worth noting there was a recent patent for PlayStation cloud gaming technology; which they vow will bring an “elimination of piracy.” A new tier of PlayStation Plus could be sweetened via cloud gaming and anime streaming.
Netflix will also reportedly be offering video games in 2022. This suggests an industry trend of offering all forms of entertainment via streaming and cloud technology. Rather than pay for multiple services for TV and games, Sony could seemingly promise film, TV, anime, and gaming. The PlayStation Vue streaming service went defunct in just under five years, but nonetheless shows Sony is keen to stream.
Sony President Kenichiro Yoshida had reportedly stated at a strategy meeting that the expansion into anime was also with the goal to produce tie-in products for franchises they own; as part of Sony’s “One Sony” concept.
However, the desire to purchase Crunchyroll and dominate the western anime market came at a time where Sony’s Computer Entertainment division was reportedly losing faith in Japan as a market. Our video partner Welfare Walrus goes into greater detail about Sony’s estrangement from their domestic market in a recent video, which you can find here.
Sony have also come under criticism for censoring and altering content in games on their platform, and for their localization of anime series through Funimation. In late December 2018, SIE Japan Asia President Atsushi Morita stated the then recent spate of censorship of anime-styled sexual content on PlayStation 4 games had been “to meet global standards.” This censorship was seemingly forced in Japan.
Funimation have also been critisized for their localization; at times featuring inaccurate translation or references to pop-culture and current political events [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
This resulted in outcry when western viewers learned Funimation were directly involved with anime production committees in Japan. Fears included that they would encourage this censorship or their own vision at the source, claiming it would appeal to the larger western audience (who in turn would prefer the show designed to appeal to the people of Japan).
We will keep you informed as we learn more.
Image: PlayStation, Crunchyroll
