Last week we reported on a range of custom black PlayStation 2 PS5 consoles which Sup3r5 were creating. According to the site, the company planned on producing 304 of these consoles and 500 DualSense controllers. The team behind the customized hardware has announced that they are cancelling all orders and refunding those who pre-ordered the console. This comes after they received massive backlash from users and even death threats. Sup3r5 has since gone missing and their Twitter account and website page have since pulled offline.
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All this drama arrived after Reddit user Cubed spotted the same custom PlayStation 2-themed black PS5 on the site. According to the user, the artwork was actually a mockup created by user whattheefth. This raised suspicion that Sup3r5 was not a legitimate brand and that they planned on scamming users into paying for something they had no intention on making. According to Reddit, the company had no prior history with customized consoles whatsoever and even the image, which they branded as their own, was not credited correctly to the original artist.
It is unclear what caused the brand to cancel all orders, delete its Twitter account and refund all customers. Over on Reddit, users have their own theories on the matter. Many of them claim that the brand and everything they stood for was a scam. Sup3r5’s website, for example, was only created a few days ago and the address listed on the site is not legitimate either. Other users suggest that Sony intervened and issued a cease and desist forcing them to cancel the project. Sony previously put a stop to multiple custom faceplate projects in the works.
Others think that Sup3r5 sold out and those who failed to secure a console lashed out against the company with death threats. According to Sup3r5, they had over 54k customers who added the custom PS2-themed black PS5 to their wishlist.
Before deactivating their Twitter account Sup3r5 tweeted a statement regarding the matter saying;
“Last night, our team began receiving credible threats to their safety. We take these threats seriously, and as a result, we’re not proceeding forward. All orders are being cancelled with full refunds.”
Thankfully, most users who purchased either the PS5 console or the standalone DualSense controller have received their refund already. With that being said, we will most likely never know the truth behind all this. Was it a scam? Did Sony put a stop to it or did they just crumble under pressure?
