Sony’s Crunchyroll Locks Anime Store Behind Subscription Paywall

You thought your anime was safe? With Sony absorbing the ire of gamers worldwide by announcing that they would no longer produce physical media for video games, it slipped past most that Sony’s Crunchyroll revealed they would pull their anime store behind a subscription paywall. Beginning in August, only Crunchyroll subscribers will be able to buy exclusives, premiums, Anime, toys, Manga, clothing and apparel, games and accessories through Crunchyroll. Basically, users are paying for the privilege of spending more money when the store was open to the public before the announcement. There is an important aspect to point out in Cruncyroll’s announcement, emphasis mine: This August, we are transitioning the Crunchyroll Store to a brand-new shopping experience that will be available exclusively for Mega and Ultimate Fans. You may be wondering why this distinction is important, and that is because Crunchyroll has three subscription tiers as seen below. Yes, this means that those subscribers paying for the Fan tier are now blocked from accessing items on the Cruncyroll store. Those subscribers would have to upgrade to the Mega or Ultimate tiers to gain access. From a consumer’s perspecti...