Funimation’s Switch app looks to corner the streaming market on the popular console

Streaming wars haven’t landed on consoles.

Just one console generation ago it would have been hard to imagine a major gaming console starved for streaming services: Microsoft claimed the Xbox One would be an “all-in-one” entertainment console while Nintendo’s Wii U, the predecessor to the Switch, boasted about its capabilities as an entertainment aid, with a GamePad that served as a universal remote and the ability to share a living space with someone watching television.

Nintendo’s Switch–the best-selling console for 25-straight months in Canada–is versatile, but it’s largely been relegated to being a gaming machine. In the United States its only streaming apps are YouTube and Hulu; in Canada, it’s just YouTube on offer.

The Xbox Series X, by comparison, offers a host of streaming options (in the US) including Netflix, Peacock, the WWE Channel, Cartoon Network, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and, like the Switch, Funimation.

Funimation is the streaming service home to Attack on Titan, Hunter x Hunter, My Hero Academia, One-Punch Man, and other popular anime, several of which that go on to have successful video game adaptations.

While Hulu is available in the States, Funimation will be the only premium streaming game in town in markets where Hulu doesn’t exist, at least on the Switch. It’s hard to imagine Nintendo’s plucky hybrid being the only streaming-capable device in a household, but it frees up a screen, especially for younger members of the household, to stream on their own. Funimation is an ideal brand for the Switch perhaps second to Disney+ which still hasn’t announced plans to launch on the platform.

Funimation’s roster of content is set to be bolstered by its buyout of rival Crunchyroll which should include the rights to shows such as Digimon Adventures (2020), Yu-Gi-Oh!, and In/Spectre.

Through the web subscription manager, parents can toggle Mature Content off, preventing it from being played, or even accessed. The Switch app–and its subsequent update on the other consoles–features a new layout designed to make streaming convenient, including a comprehensive schedule of upcoming simulcasts, simuldubs, and releases on the service.

Funimation is available now on Nintendo Switch. New members can get one month free while a subscription costs $7.99 USD/month.