Dbrand, a company known for making phone cases and vinyl wraps for electronic devices, will not be shipping the Companion Cube wrap it announced for the Steam Machine. Concept art for the project was initially shared on social media shortly after the Steam Machine unveiling in November last year, but pre-orders didn’t actually go live until 22nd June.
The design is based on the weighted Companion Cube from the Portal series, so you might have thought that Dbrand had licensed the intellectual property from Valve before starting on the project. It turns out, however, the company did not, as it revealed in a Reddit post. As a result, the Companion Cube will not be shipping, and anyone who pre-ordered it will be getting a full refund.
“As you’ve probably noticed, the Steam Machine Companion Cube was eviscerated from our website, YouTube, and other social media platforms last week,” Dbrand said. “The blunt version is that we made the Companion Cube without a license from Valve.”
The Reddit post recalls the excitement around the initial concept, which Dbrand says “went moderately viral, with over 15,000 people signing up to be notified in the first day.”
“In the months that followed, we built the idea into something real without ever asking Valve if we could,” the company went on. “We’re going to regret that decision for a very long time.”
It may not surprise you to learn that Valve wasn’t okay with that. Its legal team contacted Dbrand and requested the product and all promotional material be taken down immediately. Dbrand complied, but attempted to appeal; asking Valve if there was any way to keep the project alive. Dbrand even asked to acquire a license, but Valve once again refused.
“Given our backwards approach of building first and asking permission later, it was a fair answer,” the company admitted.
While not entirely the same thing as a full console wrap, Valve has promised to share design documentation for the Steam Machine’s magnetically-attached front plate, allowing anyone with a 3D printer to create their own.
This is far from Dbrand’s only public fumble; in fact, it’s such a regular occurrence that there is even a ‘controversies’ section on its Wikipedia page. The one Dbrand is most likely to be remembered for is the PS5 faceplate incident, where, in 2021, the company publicly challenged Sony to sue it for creating custom replacement PS5 plates. Dbrand’s design featured what it called “a familiar-but-legally-distinct apocalyptic spin on the classic PlayStation button shapes,” which Sony didn’t take kindly to, threatening to sue Dbrand and forcing it, once again, to pull the product from sale.
