New PS5 faceplate design could help the console run five degrees cooler

A company creating alternative PS5 faceplates has released its new design just days after receiving a legal notice from Sony.

Canadian company Dbrand began selling its unofficial black PS5 faceplates in February, but last week was issued a cease and desist letter from Sony. Just a few days later, however, the company released a brand-new design which it believes is safe from any future legal proceedings.

The new design, dubbed Darkplates 2.0, comes in three colors - the traditional white found on PS5 consoles, the company's signature black, and a PS1-style grey - and features a prominent vent on the side of the plates, as well as RGB lights running down the edge of the plates.

In a post on Reddit, the company explains that when it first launched the plates, Sony didn't have a registered patent for the faceplate design. Without that, it couldn't take legal action against Dbrand for design infringement. Having secured that patent, Sony has now taken that action, but in creating a brand new design, Dbrand has worked around that patent in a way that it claims "successfully closes the loop on this dispute and neutralizes any future infringement claims from Sony."

As well as providing a new look for the console, Dbrand suggests that its new plates might actually help your PS5 run better. Beneath the console's faceplates are two large fans, one on each side. Decrying Sony's design - which puts a sheet of plastic in front of those intake fans - as "wildly inefficient," Dbrand cites hardware YouTubers Gamers Nexus in claiming that the machine runs up to five degrees Celsius cooler without the plates, and that "the vents on the Darkplates 2.0 maximise your stock thermal performance without running it naked." The new design comes with optional mesh grilles that can be mounted inside the new design in an attempt to limit the amount of dust making its way into the console.

All of that is likely to be good news for customers, with whom the new design has already proved popular - the first two waves of sales, due to ship in November and December, have already sold out. Sony might still pursue some legal action, but at this point at least, Dbrand seems confident that its new approach is original enough that Sony won't really have a case.

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.