Crunchyroll quietly introduced on Friday it’s ending one of many major perks of its free tier. In an replace noticed by Anime News Network, the corporate stated it now not plans to supply ad-supported simulcast streaming of recent sequence. Previously free customers might watch new reveals shortly after their Japanese debut so long as they have been prepared to attend per week and sit by means of commercials. By subscribing to certainly one of Crunchyroll’s premium plans, you’ll be able to watch simulcasts one hour after their premiere in Japan.
In the speedy future, Crunchyroll will enable free customers to entry a “seasonal sampler” that may embody a collection of simulcast content material from the platform’s upcoming spring lineup. That sampler will enable free customers to look at the primary three episodes of reveals like Spy x Family, Dawn of the Witch and Tomodachi Game one week after their platform debut till May thirty first. To watch all new and persevering with sequence of their entirety, free customers might want to subscribe to certainly one of Crunchyroll’s premium tiers, which begin at $8 per thirty days. All at present obtainable content material will proceed to be obtainable to look at without spending a dime.
“We want to encourage as many fans as possible to explore new shows and see the full benefits of Crunchyroll premium access,” the corporate stated. “Crunchyroll makes more than 1,000 hours available for viewers to sample free of charge through our ad-supported tier, and will continue to offer free content going forward.”
The announcement comes simply weeks after Crunchyroll, following Sony’s $1.175 billion deal to purchase the service in 2020, stated it was including greater than 50 Funimation sequence to its again catalog, and that every one future reveals acquired by Sony would debut on its service.