Netflix is doing its best to lure its customers into exploring its gaming options, and now another streamer—one that’s perhaps better angled for this purpose—is trying the same: anime hotspot Crunchyroll. Starting today, members of the Mega Fan ($US9.99/month) and Ultimate Fan ($US14.99/month) tiers can access free games on mobile via the Crunchyroll Game Vault.
So far, the five available games are only on Android (with an incremental rollout), though a company press release notes that iOS is “coming soon.” The games are, as you might guess, aimed at “fans of anime and anime-inspired entertainment,” are playable with “no ads and no in-app purchases,” and will be available in over 200 countries and territories. More titles will be added soon.
Here’s a trailer released today to celebrate the launch:
This release makes a certain amount of sense for Crunchyroll since it already has an interactive division that releases free-to-download games that tie into its anime content, including Street Fighter: Duel and My Hero Academia: The Strongest Hero. As for Crunchyroll Game Vault, titles at launch include Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery, Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions, inbento, River City Girls, and Wolfstride.
No doubt this new initiative is part of Crunchyroll’s strategy to keep anime-curious eyeballs locked onto its content—though the company is also touting Crunchyroll Game Vault as a way for game developers to find exposure for their own creations, too. “Crunchyroll Game Vault is a curated, focused library of premium titles for the global anime fan that loves gaming, adding even more value to Crunchyroll memberships by connecting fans with anime-infused content,” Crunchyroll’s Terry Li said in a press release. “With Crunchyroll Game Vault, we’re also looking forward to working with international developers to bring their titles to mobile for the first time or introduce existing mobile games to the Crunchyroll community as part of an amazing line-up.”