User-purchased content will disappear when Funimation is listed on Crunchyroll

Sony has owned anime streaming service Funimation since 2017, and its larger rival Crunchyroll since 2021. Since Sony completed its recent acquisition, there has been speculation among anime fans that the two services will be merged, and now the company is making a move, reports Ars Technica.

The merger, if it can now be called that, means that Funimation will cease to exist and Sony will move the company's customers to Crunchyroll. Funimation subscribers have begun receiving emails detailing the move, which will take place without interruption to access to streaming content. But what disappears is the ability to continue watching purchased content.

Just like a couple of months ago when Sony informed Playstation owners who had previously purchased Discovery content that it would soon be removed, Crunchyroll will not be migrating movies and series sold from Funimation that customers were promised access to “in perpetuity, with some restrictions.”

Hereby, Sony once again proves that a “purchased” digital copy is absolutely nothing like a purchased DVD or Blu-ray disc. The heavy criticism that followed Discovery's reveal caused Sony to back down, but it remains to be seen if the company will give Funimation customers what they paid for in the same way.