If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Crunchyroll, and the anime it brings, poised to drive Sony's profits over the next two years

The anime streamer has become one of the rare success stories in the streaming industry, with Crunchyroll set to generate more than a third of Sony Pictures' profits over the next two years.

Demon Slayer season 4 screenshot — Image credit: Ufotable

News by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Wed Mar 19 2025

Popverse's top stories

Marvel TV, DC K.O. an Agents of SHIELD reunion, and a new Game of Thrones show head up New York Comic Con 2025's loaded panel schedule
Despite blistered feet and a 12-inch wig, a young girl reminded me why I only cosplay heroes like All Might and Captain America
DC’s Tom King, Spider-Man’s Dan Slott, Transformers’ Daniel Warren Johnson and so many, many more are tabling at NYCC ‘25’s Artist Alley: Get a look at the full list right here

For years, Crunchyroll has been a dominant name in the anime industry. Though its subscriber base is likely to fall well short of its ambitious “25 million by 2025” goal, it is still the fastest-growing streaming service on the planet and is quickly becoming a big part of parent company Sony’s business. In fact, industry experts believe that Crunchyroll, with its stable streaming business and established place in the market, could soon make up over one-third of Sony’s operating profit.

The figure comes from market research company Bernstein, which estimates that Crunchyroll’s subscriber base, which is well over 15 million at this point, will generate over 40% of Sony Pictures’ operating profit over the next two years. That is a huge number considering the size of Sony Pictures and its interests around the world.

It isn’t just the streaming numbers that influence that number – there are also the theatrical releases like the Demon Slayer Infinity Castle movies that Crunchyroll is helping to facilitate and the upcoming manga app that Crunchyroll has announced for 2025. Despite stiff competition from Netflix, Crunchyroll continues to be the dominant force in anime streaming, with a massive library of shows and merchandise on offer for fans.

If this ends up being true, it certainly justifies Sony’s purchase of Crunchyroll back in 2021 and explains their continued push into the anime and manga industry. With their purchase of a large share of Kadokawa in 2024 and the announced opening of an anime studio between Crunchyroll and Aniplex (yet another Sony-owned company), Sony clearly sees big money in anime.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included...