Thanks to a new patent for Sony's console faceplate design, the PS5 finally gets an officially interchangeable faceplate.

The patent, granted exactly one year after the PS5's launch, is a simple one that introduces removable side panels for the PS5. However, this undetermined patent not only gives Sony a legal weapon to threaten third-party vendors, but also opens the door to an official Sony faceplate, potentially allowing the PS5's color scheme to be changed.

While Sony has not announced plans to offer an official replacement PS5 plate, we feel it is almost inevitable that something will eventually happen: not only is the PS5's internal storage designed to be easily replaced with an existing plate in order to upgrade it, but a former designer at Sony boasted before the PS5's launch that it could be customized in a way that was not possible with the previous generation of consoles.

Sony is also releasing both a black DualSense controller and headset, but the console will not match this. Releasing some black plates would give those lucky enough to track down a restock of PS5s the ability to color coordinate them. This also seems like a no-brainer, given that early adopters are unlikely to trade in their white PS5 the moment a special edition is released.

Customizable plates, however, are not entirely without risk from a commercial perspective. Remember when Microsoft made the Xbox 360 faceplate customizable on a limited basis? But that was a disaster in terms of sales.

"We found that nobody was buying it," explained Microsoft's then global marketing director Albert Penello in 2010. We discontinued the product fairly early on." [The idea wasn't bad... People were putting faceplates on their phones," he continued.

"Back five years ago, everyone wanted to do faceplates.

Eleven years is a long time in hardware fashion, and people may be ready to customize their consoles again. The fact that lawyer-fed accessory maker Darkplates is filling orders through next year suggests that there is at least some demand. And that demand is bound to increase if Sony succeeds in keeping the PS5 on store shelves for a decent period of time.