You know what they say, you’ve got to spend money to spend money. That’s how it goes, right?
Well, at least that’s what Sony thinks, as its anime service, Crunchyroll, has announced that subscribers will need to be in its “Mega” or “Ultimate” fan tiers in order to make purchases in its merchandise shop, which will include “exclusive collabs, drops and premium releases.”
The problem, of course, is an annoying monthly paywall to even access the store in the first place. This change means that it is $14 a month for the Mega tier or $18 a month for the Ultimate tier. With a yearly bundle, that is $140 and $180 a year, respectively, or else no store access. That will give you the ability to give more money to Crunchyroll for the luxury of spending anywhere from a small amount to hundreds of dollars in the shop. The $10 a month “Fan” subscription does not give you access to the store.
You may imagine that such a move is not going over well with fans, who have taken to social media to blast the announcement with ratios and complaints. A sampling:
- “Folks, if this upsets you, don’t just complain. Vote with your wallet and cancel your subscription. There is nothing worthwhile that Crunchyroll provides that you can’t get elsewhere.”
- “Just when you think Sony couldn’t get any greedier. They have their anime company lock their store behind a paywall.”
- “Paying for the right to shop has got to be the worst thing I have seen happen to the Anime scene in a while. Good job Crunchyroll. I will just buy my Anime products elsewhere. You aren’t the only game in town and thank god for that.”
- “Not only are you locking your store behind a paywall, but you’re also locking behind the highest tiers of that paywall, man. This is the type of greed they talked about in the Bible.”
It’s notable that Crunchyroll is owned by Sony, no stranger to price increases in its PlayStation gaming arm. Sony raised prices in May 2026 across all PS+ tiers by $1-$2 each. But above and beyond that, it says that component shortages and costs required hikes on PS5 hardware, where a digital PS5 now costs $600, a disc PS5 costs $650 and PS5 Pro costs $900, which is $150-$200 more than any of them cost at release. Though this Crunchyroll store paywall idea is certainly one of the weirdest, and there’s no explanation given other than simply announcing that it’s happening, but before that is a 50% off sale on some store items. Needless to say, that has not placated fans, and no one is celebrating this move.
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