Crunchyroll to Cease Offering Downloads

Crunchyroll has announced that the site will cease supporting download-to-own options on March 31. The distributor has already ceased offering most titles as downloads; however, a handful are still available for permanent download at $1.99 per episode or an elective donation. Crunchyroll CEO explained the move saying, “Our core business and the future for anime is simulcast… We are dedicating more resources to provide the best experience for Anime fans, and are increasing the number of ways they can stream content from our site.”

This move begets a lot of questions. Crunchyroll’s statement doesn’t say that they’re refocusing resources. The implication is that Crunchyroll is dropping download-to-own because it’s unpopular. I have to wonder if there’s more behind this decision than CR is admitting publicly.

Source: Anime Vice