After 11 years, the popular anime streamer Crunchyroll will finally let premium subscribers access multiple profiiles. The long-awaited feature is slated to release sometime before the end of April.
"Once the feature goes live, Crunchyroll premium members will be able to customize up to five profiles within a single household, as well as be granted access to parental controls and more personalized recommendations," Crunchyroll wrote in a press release.
Much like Netflix, Crunchyroll's multiple profile feature will allow users to customize their profile icons with anime characters from more than 30 series, stream content on their separate profiles, and curate their watchlist. The feature will also allow users to stream content concurrently.
This announcement arrived a day after Funimation ended its web and app services — finalizing its 2021 merger with Crunchyroll. Back in February, Crunchyroll gave Funimation users how-to instructions for migrating their account onto Crunchyroll by logging in with their Funimation credentials. One caveat to the merger that agitated anime fans was Crunchyroll not support digital copies of Funimation TV shows and movies. This, in turn, led Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini to announce the company was workshopping a solution that would give customers 'appropriate value’ for lost anime.
"We understand this is a value to fans,” Purini told Polygon. "We are helping customers as they reach out to us on customer service. We are trying to make them whole. That could mean a discount to our subscription service, or it could mean giving them the value on a different service where they can get access to a digital copy."
When asked whether premium members will still have to pay their separate premium prices, or if multiple profiles could be merged so that bills are consolidated into one bill, a Crunchyroll representative responded, saying, “Multiple Profiles will be available for Crunchyroll Premium members who are currently using one premium account with concurrent streams and offline viewing across one household.”
In short, it doesn’t appear that premium users can merge their preexisting profiles with friends under one household. Instead, users living with other premium Crunchyroll subscribers will have to adjudicate who’s willing to recreate their watchlist under a new profile. A small price to pay for having a fellow weeb willing to foot the bill for one of Cruncyroll’s monthly three-tiered subscription prices.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh
