Dbrand began selling matte black PS5 sideplates that it called Darkplates earlier this year. Sony was immediately attracted to the product info page, which said "Go ahead, sue me!". Even their own humorous take on the PlayStation icon microtexture is included.
Dbrand has decided to stop selling Darkplates as of Saturday. This is despite having received a cease-and-desist letter from Sony. The Darkplates website currently displays a list of news articles including some from The Verge.
Dbrand shared this letter with The Verge. Weve included it at the end of the article. Sony has a few grievances, including concerns about the way the faceplates reproduce SIEs (Sony Interactive Entertainment) protected product design, and Dbrands version of the PlayStation icons. Dbrand claims the letter was sent earlier in the year, but did not give a timeline.
Sony requested that Dbrand immediately and permanently cease all marketing and promotion of faceplates featuring the product layout of SIEs PS5 or any similar product configuration and stop all sales worldwide.
Dbrand doesn't appear to agree to a cease and desist permanent order. It claims it will comply temporarily.
Or, more precisely: Weve chosen to submit to terrorists demands for right now. Dbrand wrote this 1,666 word post on the companys subreddit. It was full of harsh words for Sony, and even a few F bombs. It signs off with "talk soon", suggesting that it already has other plans.
Sony is not the only one to threaten legal action regarding PS5 side plates. VGC reported that PlateStation5 started as a company and changed its name to CustomizeMyPlates in November. The company then cancelled and refunded all orders. This was allegedly after Sony threatened legal actions. The company was able to return in January and sell its custom plates once again.
Side plates are a popular product due to their ease of removal from a PS5. Sony actually shows you how to do it in its official teardown.
It is easy to remove the plates from the PS5s, which makes it possible to access the inside of the console. This could indicate that the company plans to make other versions of the plates. There are now two colors available for the DualSense controllers: black and red. A black Pulse 3D audio headset is also on the horizon. This suggests that Sony is at least trying out other color combinations for accessories. So, a set of official black side plates is not impossible.
You don't have to wait for Sony to release your side plates, but you do have another option while Dbrands are out of the market.
Updated October 16, 2012, 12:54 AM ET: Information added from a Reddit post by Dbrand.
