Dbrand is certainly no stranger to controversy after the company initially started selling custom PlayStation 5 faceplates back in February 2021 known as Darkplates. At the time a Reddit user asked them if the company feared any potential legal action from Sony following the distribution of the plates to which they replied: “We encourage them to try.” This was accompanied by a caption on the Reddit post that said: “Sue us, Sony.”
Today Dbrand have listed a ‘Clone of the Kingdom’ set on their store which gives players a set of Joy-Con, Switch back stickers for either a Switch or Switch OLED as well as a Switch Dock to make players’ consoles look like the recently released Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom limited edition console. The set itself is also available for Steam Deck.
While some viewers looking at a glance would find it difficult to spot the differences between the official Switch and Dbrand’s set the webpage also includes a section titled “The Power of Plagiarism,” which criticize Nintendo’s recent release of the Zelda-themed console and notes that Dbrand’s set is a cheaper alternative.
Dbrand says: “Contrary to popular belief, you need to spend money to save money – specifically, by giving it to us.”
You see, when one of the world’s most litigious companies announces a $359.99 price tag to replace your Switch with a limited edition variant, only Dbrand is up to the challenge of charging you slightly less for a ‘creative reinterpretation’ of their overpriced novelty console… If a dollar saved is a dollar earned, Clone of the Kingdom is the easiest $310.04 you’ve ever made.
Dbrand
Alongside this statement, it also appears that a section of the code on the left of the dock design reads: “GO FUCK YOURSELF LAWYERS.” The code around the circle of the dock design reads: “THIS FUNDS OUR LEGAL DEFENSE.”
As noted earlier this isn’t the first time the company has come under controversy with Sony indeed responding to Dbrand’s Darkplates in October 2021. Dbrand stated that the Darkplates were “dead,” after they had received a letter from Sony’s lawyers threatening to sue the company. In Dbrand’s statement at the time, they said: “We’ve elected to submit to the terrorists’ demands… for now,” followed by “in closing, fuck you and especially fuck Sony.”
However, this didn’t stop Dbrand as just one week later the company released a ‘version 2.0’ of the PlayStation 5 faceplates with the product page’s headline saying “Checkmate, lawyers.”
It is not yet clear if Nintendo has reached out to Dbrand yet or if they intend to respond to the ‘Clone of the Kingdom’ decals.
