Sony is moving Crunchyroll from an app you have to find to a default part of the PlayStation 5 experience. The company said Wednesday that a dedicated Crunchyroll anime hub will arrive on the PS5 home screen in spring 2027, pulling anime discovery and anime-inspired games into one surface.
PlayStation president and CEO Hideaki Nishino announced the plan at the first Crunchyroll Anime Future Forum, where Sony also introduced a new Crunchyroll Storyworks division.
From standalone app to home-screen placement
Crunchyroll has been available on PS5 as an app since the console launched in 2020. The change is about visibility. Sony Interactive Entertainment described the hub as a way for the PlayStation community to discover and explore anime content more easily. The hub will also point players toward anime-inspired games and route them to the full Crunchyroll app.
Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini put the strategy in distribution terms. He cited Crunchyroll membership on PlayStation and the upcoming Ghost of Tsushima: Legends anime series, then said the company is taking the partnership “one step further” by building the hub into the console. “Serving fans means meeting them where they already are,” he said.
Why home-screen real estate matters
For streaming platforms, placement changes the funnel. A standalone app sits behind search or a library icon; a home-screen hub is a native entry point, visible before the user decides to open anything. Sony is using the PS5’s reach to shorten the path from gameplay to anime viewing and Crunchyroll sign-up.
The move also signals how Sony plans to tie its gaming and anime businesses together. Instead of treating Crunchyroll as a separate service, the hub makes it part of the console’s content layer.
- Timing: Spring 2027, announced at the inaugural Crunchyroll Anime Future Forum.
- Placement: PS5 home screen, not a downloadable app library entry.
- Scope: Anime content discovery, anime-inspired games and access to the full Crunchyroll app.
- Track record: Crunchyroll has been on PS5 since 2020, but this changes its default visibility.
- Adjacent bet: Sony launched Live TV on PS5 in August with more than 100 free ad-supported channels.
The bigger console media play
The Crunchyroll hub follows the August debut of Live TV on PS5, a free ad-supported streaming offering with more than 100 channels. Sony Pictures Television plans to expand that service globally in the coming months. Together, the moves recast PlayStation as a place where game time, free channel flipping and subscription streaming sit side by side.
For media buyers, the practical read is that PS5 is becoming a reach surface for entertainment content, not just a closed gaming environment. The spring 2027 timeline means no immediate inventory shift, but the direction is clear.
Sony has not detailed regional rollout, ad formats or how the hub will monetise. That gap is worth watching for planners who already buy anime audiences across connected TV and digital video.
Source: Variety
