Funimation Is Officially Shutting Down In April
Funimation logo
Funimation, the anime streaming service that first launched in 2016, is finally shutting down next month, after parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired Crunchyroll in 2022. The move will see all remaining Funimation subscribers transferred over to Crunchyroll, but it seems like it won’t be the smoothest of transitions.
Sony had previously announced that Funimation would be shutting down in “early 2024” following its acquisition of Crunchyroll, with the company opting to use the stronger Crunchyroll name to continue its service going forward. Now, in a new FAQ provided by the company, Sony has revealed that Funimation will cease to exist on April 2, 2024.
“As part of Crunchyroll’s unification of fan services announced in March 2022, the Funimation app and website will sunset on April 2, 2024,” the FAQ reads, “Rest assured, this transition will not impact your access to the vast library of anime available on Crunchyroll. We remain committed to delivering the best anime streaming experience and will continue to expand our offerings to cater to your diverse interests!”
Crunchyroll
Much of Funimation’s library has been moved over to Crunchyroll in the last two years, although some anime titles – particularly on the dubbed side of things – have yet to make the move, and at this stage may never do so. Something else that isn’t making the move is Funimation’s digital copies, which the company confirmed would not be accessible in Crunchyroll.
“We understand that you may have concerns about your digital copies from Funimation,” the FAQ says, “Please note that Crhunchyroll does not currently support Funimation Digital copies, which means that access to previously available digital copies will not be supported.”
It’s worth noting that the digital copies that are being referred to here are additional bonuses provided via a code in some releases of anime DVDs and Blu-rays. Digital copies weren’t sold separately on Funimation, so most people affected by this should hopefully still have access to the movies they bought. Still, it’s a bit of a bummer to think that an entire aspect of Funimation’s service will no longer exist in any form, and especially frustrating for those who either prefer to watch their movies and anime series digitally or no longer have access to the physical copies.
More information is available on the Funimation end of services FAQ website.
