If you aren’t a fan of the PlayStation 5’s somewhat strange, black and white, two-tone design, these new PS5 ‘Darkplates‘ from Toronto-based Dbrand could be exactly what you’ve been waiting for.
The precision-cut matte black plastic sheets are designed to replace the white Tuxedo Mask-like sides of the standard PS5. Unlike most of Dbrand’s skin accessories that stick to devices with adhesive, these Darkplates entirely replace the recently released console’s white sides.
What’s most interesting about this accessory is that it isn’t officially licensed by Sony — in fact, Dbrand is actively encouraging Sony to sue it for releasing the Darkplates with a “Go ahead, sue us” message at the top of the Darkplate’s order page.
If you follow Dbrand’s hilarious, but very adversarial Twitter account, this unique approach to marketing its new PS5 plate replacement accessory isn’t surprising.
initializing @darkplates…
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░ 99% pic.twitter.com/qd2akeAo8S
— Dbrand (@dbrand) February 11, 2021
Sony has a history of taking legal action against similar modifications to the PS5’s look. For example, back in January a company first called PlateStation5 and then CustomizeMyPlates, had to cancel orders and offer refunds following legal action from Sony.
Dbrand’s Darkplate features a texture it describes as “a familiar-but-legally-distinct apocalyptic spin on the classic PlayStation button shapes.” This statement likely refers to the fact that the skull, robot head, weird triangle and radioactive symbol, bear somewhat of a resemblance to micro PlayStation button icons on the PS5 and the DualSense gamepad.
Dbrand’s DarkPlate design options include ‘Robot Camo,’ ‘Redcode,’ ‘matte black’, and plain yellow and white plates. One set of plates costs $49 USD (about $62 CAD) plus the additional cost of shipping, with the addition of a middle skin bringing the price up to $60.95 (roughly $77.42 CAD).
Dbrand says that all the Darkplates set to ship in February, March and April have sold out, with another shipment set for May already being on backorder. The version of the accessory for the Digital Edition PlayStation 5 isn’t yet available.
Image credit: Dbrand
Source: @dbrand