Crunchyroll Officially Shutting Down For Millions October 30

Despite including the largest collection of anime series and movies, the streaming service Crunchyroll will be shutting down in October. Well, at least its Nintendo Switch app will. As such, millions of users will no longer have access to the app, even if they already have it downloaded. Additionally, the Crunchyroll app has already been removed from the eShop, meaning that, if you do not already own it, you have no chance of downloading it ahead of its October shutdown.

With the Crunchyroll app only previously being available on the Nintendo Switch and not the latest Nintendo Switch 2, millions of users are expected to be affected by this imminent shutdown, but the news is very much true, especially as it was reported by Crunchyroll itself. In an email to Nintendo Switch subscribers, the news was revealed, but it offered no explanation as to why the cancellation was taking place. If anything, we can assume that this was Nintendo's decision, as plenty of other streaming services have recently been removed from the Nintendo Switch, perhaps ahead of their arrival on the Nintendo Switch 2. However, this is purely speculation.

As you can imagine, the news has not been received well by fans, especially as this is the main way that millions of Crunchyroll subscribers would access anime. Following the news, those affected took to r/NintendoSwitch to share their thoughts.

"I'm devastated," one user shared. "This is the main platform I use the service on. I purchased a year of subscription recently, with one of the main reasons being that this is one of the only services that works on Switch. What am I supposed to do now? This was so much better than using it on the phone, and the only thing that made me frequently use my Switch 1." Another pointed out another shocking fact, saying, "We still haven’t got a YouTube app on the SW2 yet."

For one user, the Nintendo Switch was the best way to watch anime, and will mourn the cancellation greatly. "Being able to download episodes and watch them in bed on an OLED screen without stuttering/lag or outages was the best way to watch anime on a smaller screen. No having to sit up on a laptop or hold up a bulky iPad, and bigger than a smaller phone screen (with a headphone port to boot). It really was poised to be even better on Switch 2. All of that, but more space for downloading episodes, and the Pro controller's headphone jack meant you could've been able to download HD seasons, then watch them portably and on TV with headphones on....

"I really hope they decide to launch it on Switch 2 some day, and although a tiny part of me hopes they're ending the service here to shift focus to a Switch 2 version... I'm not very hopeful, unfortunately."

It is unlikely that Nintendo and Crunchyroll will reverse this decision, so, unfortunately, users have until 30 October to enjoy their favorite anime on the Nintendo Switch ahead of the apps ultimate removal.