As reported by the specialized website The Information and others, the acquisition of the Crunchyroll platform, focused on anime content, by Sony, officially announced in December 2020, could be delayed. Crunchyroll’s deal to sell to Sony is valued at USD 1.175 million in cash.

According to the information reported, the US Department of Justice will extend its analysis on the agreement between Sony and AT&T for the sale of Crunchyroll, in order to determine if the transaction could give Sony dominance over the anime market and offer anime studios fewer options to distribute their series. As reported, the analysis of the transaction could take at least six months, until the US Department of Justice approves it or decides to cancel it.

After months of negotiations, AT&T announced an agreement for the sale of Crunchyroll to the Funimation group, a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment (US) and Aniplex (Japan), a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. In 2020, the Group launched the Funimation platform, another of the main market leaders, in Brazil and Mexico, thus arriving at Latin America. Also, another of the players that has recently joined the anime universe is Anime Onegai, a platform recently launched in Latin America.

Towards the end of August 2020, Crunchyroll launched new premium packages, which it called ‘Fan’; ‘Mega Fan’ (monthly subscription) and ‘Mega Fan’ (annual subscription). All of them offer an initial 14-day free trial period, as well as being ad-free and allowing unlimited access to the Crunchyroll library, and other benefits.