PS5 may have multiple looks through “special editions” and “customizable” features
A LinkedIn thread from PlayStation’s vice president of UX design suggests the PS5 may see multiple re-skins, either through limited-edition game-related versions or through the fact that it will be “customizable in ways previous gens weren’t”.
The PS5’s fresh aesthetic take has garnered mixed reactions from the community. Its tall, slender black body encased in white wrapping is considered sleek by many and although I love the overall design, a game console that is primarily white just won’t look right in my living room.
However mere days after the huge PS5 event on June 11th, Matt MacLaurin, vice president of UX design at PlayStation, posted a LinkedIn thread that suggested the potential for multiple design variants and even customization. Unfortunately, the thread itself has now been taken down, but thankfully we lap up information like this quickly.
Throughout the thread, many suggestions were made. When one commenter asked if we can expect an all-black PS5, MacLaurin responded with an ambiguous “maybe”, giving us little to go on. But later he suggested that the PS5 will “definitely be seeing some special editions” and that it “is also customizable in ways previous gens weren’t.” As these latter comments were far more direct they immediately set my mind racing, envisioning what we could expect, and what I’d like to see.
PlayStation is no stranger to special edition variants. We’ve already seen the PS4 get a few re-skins:
- red and white for Spider-Man
- black and white for Death Stranding
- blue and black for Uncharted
- all-white for Assassin’s Creed: Liberation
- matte finish with engraving for The Last of Us Part II
But what, then, could we expect for the PS5? It’s hard to know since, for the PS4, most of these re-skins came far after the initial PS4 release date, but if we were to look at what we already know it’s not so far fetched to imagine a light blue PS5 for Horizon: Forbidden west, a black and white re-skin for Spider-Man: Miles Morales, or a purple edition for the upcoming addition to the beloved Ratchet & Clank franchise.
That said, as a sucker for Demon Souls, I would love to see a related steel-type re-skin for that, which may not be too feasible considering that Sony is flaunting it as one of the PS5’s early exclusives.
Beyond official re-skins, MacLaurin’s mention of the PS5 being “customizable” is also exciting, but a little less easy to visualize what he means. I could perhaps see them switching out the white wrapping with different plates, as it looks as if it could be removable—this would turn out like the old Xbox 360, which had interchangeable faceplates.
But there is a sliver of a possibility that MacLaurin was talking about software customizability, as it was quite an ambiguous statement. Do remember that the PS3 was able to run Linux for a while, meaning that software or even full OS customization may be on the cards.
All that said, there’s no official evidence that the PS5 will launch in anything but the black and white version we have all seen, but MacLaurin’s words give me hope that I may be able to get my hands on a version of the PS5 which will match my living room aesthetics or, even better, pay homage to a game franchise I know and love.