Canadian-based device customisation company Dbrand launched its replacement PS5 plates, dubbed Darkplates, with a brazen attitude towards the prospect of a Sony takedown. As Polygon spotted, the replacement plates are now on sale. They’re matte black and will set you back at least $49 - without the cost of shipping. “With the release of Darkplates, the unthinkable has happened,” Dbrand says on its website. “we’ve taken Sony’s monumental achievement in bad design… and fixed it. We can only assume that our prizes are in the mail.” It’s an aggressive tone considering the fate of companies who have so far tried and failed to sell PS5 plates. Last year, the company behind PlateStation5.com was forced to change its name and remove PS5 imagery after Sony threatened legal action. Eventually, the firm cancelled all preorders. The PS5 plates do come off with a bit of fiddling about - as Sony itself revealed in the run up to the November 2020 launch of the console. At the time it was felt Sony planned to sell its own official replacement plates, although the company has yet to announce such a product. Dbrand’s plates contain a microscopic texture, as do the official PS5 plates, but it’s slightly different to Sony’s PlayStation face button design. “When you look at this microscopic texture inside the Darkplates, what do you see?” Dbrand says in a section of its website subtitled “Totally legal”. “If your answer is ‘a familiar-but-legally-distinct apocalyptic spin on the classic PlayStation button shapes,’ you might be one of our lawyers.” “Go ahead, sue us,” reads the top of the website. According to the Darkplates website, the first three waves of its PS5 plates have sold out. Limited stock of the matte black option for the Disc Edition console is said to be available for shipping in May. The question is, will this operation still be going by then, or will Sony’s lawyers have had their say?
