See The Colorful New Look For The PS5
Sony is finally giving gamers brand new option for how their PS5 devices can look. See the pictures of their new options here.
This article is more than 2 years old
PlayStation has finally revealed new PS5 color console covers, or faceplates, after nearly a year of public outcry and several threats of legal action. There will be five new color variants in total for both the console and the DualSense controllers to match, scheduled for a global January 2022 release. According to Kotaku, next to the existing Cosmic Red and Midnight Black, which were only available for DualSense controllers, Sony adds Nova Pink, Starlight Blue, and Galactic Purple, making all five PS5 color schemes available for both the consoles and controllers.
In addition, Sony announced that swapping out the faceplates is a pretty straightforward process and requires no tools. Simply pop the old original white cover from the console and “click” the new one into its place.
Cosmic Red and Midnight Black console faceplates are scheduled to release first, to match the existing color schemes of DuelSense controllers. The remaining assortment of colored faceplates for the console and controllers will be released somewhat later, in the first half of 2022, at a purported price of $55. These new PS5 color options come after Sony got into legal confrontations with third-party custom faceplate manufacturers over the past year, which has previously indicated that Sony is planning to release their own line of covers.
The most recognizable of said legal threats and actions Sony made against its competitors was against the prominent custom case seller Dbrand. It sounds like another David vs. Goliath fight. Previously, Sony has been accused of trying to cash in on the ideas generated by smaller businesses. In this case, it’s important to know that it was actually Dbrand that threw the first punch. Following the release of Dbrand’s Darkplates, a micro-texturized black faceplate for PS5, the company baited Sony to sue them — and Sony obliged. Dbrand responded with a post on social media, stating the Darkplates are dead, before throwing a punch back, in a legal sense, stating that the plates don’t violate any existing trademarks.
Admittedly, Sony managed to secure the patent for its own proprietary brand of swappable PS5 color faceplates, but Dbrand hasn’t discontinued their own production. In fact, their new faceplate, the Darkplate 2.0, actually shrinks the console’s profile and makes it elegantly black all over — for a reasonable price of $70. And they’re not the only third-party options on the market either. Console modding, even purely cosmetic, is a rising niche, and Sony is facing a lot of competition, especially when it comes to customizable controllers. Some companies have revealed entire new color schemes for their lines of elite PS5 controllers, despite Sony’s legal attempts to have them cease and desist. Some options on the market cost up to $260.
The PlayStation 5 console remains one of the most sought-after bits of gaming hardware on the market due to the disruptions in the supply chain caused by the ongoing global semiconductor shortage. Sony did reveal its plans to address the shortage issue, but their newest console still remains elusive to a large number of customers. Hopefully, the new faceplates won’t suffer the same issue, though it seems kind of pointless to manufacture faceplates for a console that’s not as readily available as it should be.
