Crunchyroll Expands Anime Streaming Service to Taiwan and South Korea

Crunchyroll, the Sony-owned anime streaming giant, has announced plans to launch fully localized services in Taiwan and South Korea. President Rahul Purini confirmed the expansion at the APOS media conference in Bali, noting that Taiwan will gain access this summer, with the South Korean launch scheduled for 2026. This move represents a strategic push to deepen the platform’s footprint in key Asian markets where anime fandom is already highly concentrated.

The company’s expansion strategy relies heavily on localization, a model that has yielded significant growth in regions like India and Thailand. By providing localized interfaces, extensive dubbing in regional languages, and community-focused events, Crunchyroll has seen dramatic engagement spikes. In India, for instance, dubbed content now accounts for over 65 percent of total watch time, while viewership in Thailand has quadrupled since the platform’s localized launch earlier this year.

This expansion is a cornerstone of Sony’s broader corporate strategy to capitalize on the surging global demand for Japanese animation. Since acquiring Crunchyroll in 2020, Sony has integrated its production and distribution arms to create a dominant force in the industry, which now boasts over 17 million subscribers. With the global anime market projected to reach $60.1 billion by 2030, Sony’s commitment to localized, high-quality distribution positions it to capture a significant share of this rapidly expanding audience.