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Dbrand launches Something skins that makes your phone look like Nothing

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After months of teasing and overhyping, the Nothing Phone 1 is finally here. We got our hands on the device this week and determined it’s mostly just a regular smartphone with a cool translucent rear — so wouldn’t it be cool if you could have that look on the phone you already own?

That’s what device outfitter company Dbrand set out to do, and it wound up making… Something. It’s a collection of skins and cases that match the geometric white and gray style of the Nothing Phone 1’s visible internals, but you’re able to pair them with select iPhones, Pixels, and other devices.

The iPhone 13 Pro Max and Pixel 6 Pro show off their insides like it’s Nothing.
Image: Dbrand

Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz said that the Nothing phone’s main appeal is its aesthetics and believes that no one would want to cover it with a case or skin. “If we can’t cover the phone, how do we profit off Nothing?” Ijaz said via email. The belief at Dbrand is that there won’t be a whole lot of Nothing phones in the wild and that the brand is “untested” and “overhyped,” but people are interested in the looks.

There’s also an Easter egg in the form of GPS coordinates printed on the back of the Something decal: 34.47972001011N 113.3353001040W
Image: Dbrand

The Something line is available now in a limited capacity, and its initial run will include versions for the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the Pixel 6 Pro, and the Samsung S22 Ultra. You can get them as a Skin for $24.95 or a grip case for $49.90. There are plans to release a Nintendo Switch version as well, and additional devices will come based on demand.

Dbrand is known for its sarcastic and snarky marketing that pokes fun at tech companies. Last year, it even got a cease and desist letter from Sony for releasing side-plate replacements for the PS5 after Dbrand egged them on on the product page with the message, “Go ahead, sue us.” Dbrand would later redesign the plates to avoid looking similar to the official ones, and the product page now headlines: “Checkmate, Lawyers.” It remains to be seen if Nothing will sue Dbrand for Something.

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Sony Threatens Dbrand With Legal Action Over Black PS5 Plates

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Image: Dbrand

You might not remember since February 2021 was actually 19 years ago, but earlier this year phone and console skin makers Dbrand released a set of black PS5 faceplates. Not content with merely releasing them, though, the company also bizarrely baited Sony to sue them, and Sony is now obliging.

A page from Dbrand’s site that knew this day was coming
Image: Dbrand

As The Verge report, Dbrand’s “Darkplates” have recently been removed from the company’s store, and any purchasing links now redirect to a page that only lists all the news articles written about the plates, including the Gizmodo story linked above.

Why pull them now? Because the company received a cease & desist letter from Sony, part of which says:

It has come to SIE’s attention that dbrand has been promoting and selling console accessories in a manner that is deeply concerning to our client. First, dbrand is selling faceplates for the PSS console (in both standard edition and digital edition configurations) that replicate SIE’s protected product design. Any faceplates that take the form of our client’s PSS product configuration, or any similar configuration, and are: produced and sold without permission from SIE violate our client’s intellectual property rights in the distinctive console design.

Second, dbrand is selling skins for SIE devices that feature the PlayStation Family Mark Your company may not sell products that bear unauthorized depictions of our client’s PlayStation Marks. The below still from one of dbrand’s instructional videos shows a dbrand skin bearing a design identical to the PlayStation Family Mark.

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For their part, Dbrand have responded with a rambling corporate shitpost on Reddit, which opens with “much like your hopes and dreams, Darkplates are dead” before eventually settling into actual legal defences of their position, saying the plates don’t violate any existing trademarks. Dbrand suspects that Sony’s actual motivation here is moving to shut down competitors before revealing its own, first-party replacement panels for the PS5.

Note that this isn’t the first company Sony has gone after like this. CustomizeMyPlates were also forced to halt sales of their own coloured replacement plates in 2020, though in their case they resumed sales earlier this year and have been undisturbed since, perhaps because their versions don’t include tiny logos that look a lot like actual PlayStation icons.

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Dbrand pulls its PS5 Darkplates from sale after Sony threatens legal action

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Earlier this year, Dbrand started selling matte black PS5 side plates that it called Darkplates, and when it did, it baited Sony right on the product’s info page to “Go ahead, sue us.” We got our hands on some, and they look exactly like you expect, making the sides of your PS5 black instead of white. They even have their own tongue-in-cheek take on the PlayStation icon microtexture.

As of Saturday, though, you can’t buy Darkplates anymore, as Dbrand has removed them from sale after (perhaps unsurprisingly) receiving a cease and desist letter from Sony. (If you visit the Darkplates site right now, it just shows a list of news articles, including ones from The Verge).

Dbrand shared the letter with The Verge, which we’ve included at the bottom of the article. Sony raises a few grievances in the letter, including taking issue with how the faceplates “replicate SIE’s [Sony Interactive Entertainment] protected product design” and with Dbrand’s versions of the PlayStation icons. Dbrand says the letter was issued earlier this year but didn’t provide an exact timeline as to when.

As part of the letter, Sony asked that Dbrand “promptly and permanently cease and take down all marketing and promotion for and cease all sales worldwide of faceplates featuring the product configuration of SIE’s PS5 faceplates or any similar product configuration, including without limitation all faceplates currently for sale at dbrand.com.”

Dbrand does not appear to be agreeing to comply with a permanent cease and desist, though. It says it will comply for now.

Or more specifically: “We’ve elected to submit to the terrorists’ demands… for now,” Dbrand writes in this 1,666-word post on the company’s subreddit, one packed with harsh words for Sony and even a few F-bombs. The company signs off with “talk soon,” suggesting it has already has other plans.

Dbrand has an enjoyable bit of whataboutism trying to shift the blame on popular Netflix show Squid Game.
Image: Dbrand

This isn’t the first time Sony has threatened legal action over PS5 side plates. One company that started life as PlateStation5 changed its name to CustomizeMyPlates and then canceled and refunded orders, allegedly after Sony threatened legal action, VGC reported in November. That company returned in January and is selling its custom plates again.

Part of the reason that there is a market for side plates is likely because it’s not too hard to take them off a PS5. In fact, Sony shows exactly how you can do it in its official teardown of the console.

The ease with which you can take the PS5’s plates off not only makes it easy to get to the inner workings of the console but could also hint that it plans to release other versions of the side plates in the future. You can now buy red and black DualSense controllers and a black Pulse 3D Audio headset is on the way, suggesting that Sony is at least experimenting with other color combinations for its accessories, so an official set of black side plates doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility.

If you don’t want to wait for Sony, though, you have one less option of third-party side plates to pick from while Dbrand’s are off the market.

Update October 16th, 12:54AM ET: Added information from a Dbrand post on Reddit.

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Dbrand Dares Sony to Sue Over Its New Black Faceplates for the PS5

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Screenshot: Dbrand

Months after its debut, the PS5’s design remains highly divisive, and while Sony has already shut down one accessory maker who tried making aftermarket panels for the PS5, Dbrand is now daring Sony to sue over its new matte black PS5 faceplates.

Called Darkplates, Dbrand’s new PS5 addon isn’t just a sticker you can use to cover up the PS5’s stock white exterior, they’re full matte black plastic replacement panels that attach to the PS5 using the same grooves Sony uses to secure the default white side covers.

While some people might worry about tinkering with their expensive new console, Dbrand jokingly claims that “99.98% of humans can successfully install Darkplates,” suggesting that even people typically afraid of modifying their game console should have no issue swapping out the PS5’s stock side panels for Dbrand’s Darkplates.

But where things get extra spicy is all the extra language Dbrand has littered across the Darkplates website practically begging Sony to file a lawsuit for violating Sony’s patent and intellectual property (or at the very least send out a cease and desist)—a fate encountered by fellow accessory maker Customize My Plates last year. 

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Screenshot: Dbrand

Right under the Darkplates header image, Dbrand even added a line saying “Go ahead, sue us,” while the microtexture Dbrand feature on its side panels serves as another jab at Sony, with Dbrand replacing Sony’s circle, triangle, square, and x icons with “familiar-but-legally-distinct apocalyptic spin on the classic PlayStation button shapes.”

Available for the standard PS5 (with an option for the PS5 Digital Edition “coming soon”), Dbrand’s Darkplates look to be exactly what many gamers have been asking for since Sony first unveiled the PS5’s controversial two-toned black and white façade. However, they won’t come cheap as the two matte black side panels plus an adhesive middle skin (available in six different patterns) currently costs $61 (apparently discounted from $79). That’s basically the same price as a game, which might force people to choose between buying a new title for their PS5 or upgrading its looks.

Screenshot: Dbrand

But I have to admit, the PS5 looks pretty slick in all black, and it seems I’m not the only one who thinks that way as Dbrand’s Darkplates first three waves of orders have already sold out, with the next available wave expected to ship sometime in May.

Still, for anyone who truly can’t stand the PS5’s stock design, you might want to act fast. Despite Dbrand’s confident taunts, it’s hard to say how long Darkplates will be available before Sony’s legal team decides to get involved.

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Dbrand starts selling matte black PS5 plates and dares Sony to sue

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It’s fair to say the PlayStation 5’s huge, two-tone industrial design is not for everyone, and now Dbrand says it has a solution. The company best known for its custom phone skins and cases has put “Darkplates” on sale, with the promise that the precisely carved slabs of plastic will turn your PS5 into a murdered-out matte-black hunk of hardware.

This isn’t just an unofficial accessory — Dbrand is actively encouraging Sony to sue it for putting the product out. The background there is that a small company, first called PlateStation5 then CustomizeMyPlates, was forced to cancel and refund orders for a similar product last year following legal action from Sony. Now Dbrand’s order page reads “Go ahead, sue us” at the top.

The goading doesn’t stop there. Dbrand’s Darkplate features a texture somewhat inspired by the PlayStation button icons microtexture found on the PS5 and its controller. The company describes it as “a familiar-but-legally-distinct apocalyptic spin on the classic PlayStation button shapes.”

The Darkplate also has an optional skin for the glossy black middle section of the PS5, in case you want to customize its color or just make it less of a breeding ground for fingerprints. Beyond the matte black option, there are plain yellow and white skins as well as patterns like “robot camo” and “redcode.”

Converting your PS5 to matte black won’t be particularly cheap and might not be all that quick. One set of plates sells for $49 plus shipping, while adding a middle skin takes the base price up to $60.95. All three waves of product set to ship in February, March, and April respectively have sold out in the past couple of hours, while a fourth wave for May is now available for backorder. The PS5 Digital Edition version of the plates, meanwhile, hasn’t yet been put on sale at all.

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