Canadian peripheral firm Dbrand has announced it will soon be taking orders for its own range of black PlayStation 5 faceplates and dismissed suggestions Sony could stop it.
The company, which is mainly known for its phone cases, isfor when its matte black PS5 faceplates will become available. It says the plates will release sometime in 2021 and come in both Standard and Digital variants.
“We’ll be entering mass production on PS5 Faceplates by year’s end,” the company wrotelast week. “However, we won’t be accepting orders until we have stock at our Toronto HQ, ready to ship.”
Dbrand’s product launch follows a high-profile case in the UK which saw one companycancel its plans to create custom PS5 faceplatesafterSonyallegedly threatened legal action.
CustomizeMyPlates.comwas forced to change its original name of PlateStation5 and eventually pull its entire range of custom PS5 faceplates.
Asked by a Reddit user if it feared similar legal action over its faceplates, Dbrand dismissed the notion, writing: “We encourage them to try.” A caption on its Reddit post also reads: “sue us, Sony.”
Dbrand said it could later expand its range to offer otherPlayStation 5faceplate colours, but for now, it’s focusing on matte black with a curated array of middle skins.
PlayStation 5 at retail
Another peripheral firm, Game Armor,launched pre-ordersfor its own PS5 faceplates last month, which are available in matte black, red and blue with an introductory price of $35.
Content creator CptnAlex, who launched Game Armor in December, explained why hedoesn’t expect his company to get on the wrong side of Sony.
He wrote: “Because our name isn’t deceptively close to a trademarked one, because our product doesn’t include trademarked logos, and because our armor is designed differently enough to not infringe on design patents, we’re able to sell safely.”
As revealed inan official PlayStation 5 teardown video, PS5’s standard white shell snaps off, theoretically allowing the unofficial replicas to be easily inserted in its place.
PlayStation 5 comes in one colour scheme at launch (white and black) and Sony hasn’t said if additional colours will be available in the near future.
Unsurprisingly, consideringthe ease in which PS5’s white panels can be removed, this has caused many owners tostart customising their consoles with new colour schemesof their own.
PS5 owners have been showing off theircustom PS5 paintjobssince its launch in November. One Reddit userused Plastidipto transform their PS5 into a black console.
Another PS5 ownerused a vinyl wrapto change the appearance of their console. Vinyl wrapping is more traditionally used to protect a car’s paint and provide customisation options.
