Crunchyroll announced on Tuesday that it is launching a new Crunchyroll Beta site. The beta is currently available to 20% from its premium members, but will eventually become available to all premium subscribers and free users in the US. However, the company will reveal details about the international release of the beta at a future date.
Eligible premium users can opt-in to Crunchyroll Beta via header images or pop-ups that appear on the service's website. Additionally, in Crunchyroll Beta, the website homepage will have a new user interface where users can receive personalized recommendations and easily navigate to their watchlist or redesigned watch pages.
The beta will also feature improved search features and the ability to filter between genres, new and popular anime, and subtitled and dubbed series. Users will also be able to create unique usernames and select from a library of avatars and images from different series.
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Crunchyroll Beta.
Crunchyroll Beta will also feature the new Crunchylists feature, which allows users to create their own collection of curated titles. Users can add any series or select episodes from the service to their list and organize it as they like.
About the platform
Crunchyroll surpassed over four million subscribers and over 100 million registered users in February.
Crunchyroll launched in 2006 as a streaming service that offered unauthorized anime titles. The site secured $$ 4.05 million in its first-round funding from Venrock and began licensing titles for streaming in 2008.
The Chernin Group acquired a majority stake in Crunchyroll in December 2013. The Chernin Group and AT&T formed the Otter Media joint venture in 2014, and Otter Media invested another US $ 22 million in Crunchyroll's parent company Ellation in November 2015. AT&T then announced in August 2018 that it had acquired all of Otter Media.
The service reached over one million subscribers in February 2017, over two million subscribers in October 2018, and over three million subscribers in July 2020.
Crunchyroll and Viz Media Europe closed the deal for Crunchyroll to become the majority owner of Viz Media Europe Group in December 2019. Additionally, the companies announced the agreement in September 2019. Viz Media Europe SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiées or simplified corporation) announced in April 2020 that it had changed its name to Crunchyroll SAS.
