Dbrand declares its PS5 Darkplates ‘are dead’ after Sony threatens legal action
Dark days for Darkplates
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Earlier this year, Canadian company dbrandstarted sellingmatte black faceplates forSony’sPS5console, calling them ‘Darkplates’. Now, dbrand has announced it’s pulling Darkplates from sale after receiving a cease and desist letter from Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Dbrand made the announcement ina post on its subreddit, inviting Redditors to visit theproduct pagewhich no longer offers the Darkplates for sale. Through the rest of the post, dbrand quotes thecease and desist letterhighlighting that Sony takes issue with the way the Darkplates “replicate [Sony Interactive Entertainment]’s protected product design” as well as dbrand’s version of the PlayStation button icons engraved inside the plates.
The letter closes with Sony asking that dbrand “promptly and permanently cease and take down all marketing and promotion for and cease all sales worldwide of faceplates featuring the product configuration of SIE’s PS5 faceplates or any similar product configuration, including without limitation all faceplates currently for sale at dbrand.com.” Dbrand also says in the post that “a couple of months from that original Cease & Desist” it has been advised by Sony’s legal team that “a patent had been issued in Canada which purports to cover the shape of the PlayStation 5’s side panels.”
It probably doesn’t come as a huge shock that Sony has sent this cease and desist letter. Back in October 2020 another company attempted to sell PS5 faceplates before its operation wasswiftly shut down. In fact, when dbrand itselfannounced its line of Darkplatesback in February, it was pretty forward with the slogan “Go ahead, sue us.”
Dbrand wraps up its post by saying that it’s complying with Sony’s request, though it adds “for now” in bold, suggesting this might not be the last we hear of it.
Analysis: The appeal of replacement plates
With its size and bright white casing, there’s no denying the PS5 has a tendency to stand out in an entertainment center. While there are plenty of PS5 owners who love that aspect of the console, for those who don’t, swapping its plates is an easy route to happiness. And easy really is the operative word here—instructions on how to remove the faceplates of the PS5 can be found inSony’s own teardown videoof the console. TechRadar’s own John McCanntried replacing the plateson his PS5 and found the whole process pretty simple.
The ease with which it can be done has led many to believe that Sony has plans to release official faceplates of its own. Sony’s recent announcement oftwo new DualSense colors(Cosmic Red and Midnight Black) and aMidnight Black Pulse 3D Wireless Headsetshow it’s not averse to a pop of colour this generation. Even last generation itreleased a line of official PS4custom faceplates. With all that in mind, an official line of PS5 faceplates doesn’t seem totally outlandish. In fact, dbrand itself speculates in its Reddit post that first-party faceplates could be Sony’s next step. But Sony itself hasn’t said a thing and we can’t know for sure until something official is confirmed.
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Naturally, though, worrying about the ability to make changes to a PS5 is a luxury reserved for those who’ve actually been able to get their hands on one. Stock is still fairly hard to come by amidongoing shortagesbut we’re regularlytracking retailer stockat TechRadar. Readers in the US still on the lookout for a console can follow our dedicatedPS5 restock trackeras well as TechRadar’s US Editor-in-ChiefMatt Swider, who has had plenty of success in helping people secure consoles.
Emma Boyle is TechRadar’s ex-Gaming Editor, and is now a content developer and freelance journalist. She has written for magazines and websites including T3, Stuff and The Independent. Emma currently works as a Content Developer in Edinburgh.
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