The ‘Companion Cube’ Steam Machine has been discontinued due to a major misstep.
When Valve unveiled its cube-shaped Steam Machine last November, one manufacturer posed a fun question: What if it resembled a Companion Cube from Portal? Dbrand took that idea and ran with it, generating enough buzz that over 15,000 people expressed interest in purchasing one. However, after months of excitement, Dbrand unexpectedly pulled a promotional YouTube video for the Steam Machine Companion Cube accessory and removed it from its website last week.
On Monday, Dbrand clarified the reason behind the removal of its $129.95 Companion Cube: they never secured permission from Valve to create a product based on Valve’s copyrighted design. This situation serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of acting without proper authorization.
“As you may have noticed, the Steam Machine Companion Cube was removed from our website, YouTube, and other social media platforms last week,” a Dbrand representative shared on the company’s subreddit. “To put it bluntly, we created the Companion Cube without a license from Valve. Everyone who ordered a Companion Cube will receive a refund by the end of the day.”
Dbrand elaborated that they invested significant effort into designing, producing, and marketing the Companion Cube, a hard shell that encased the Steam Machine, “without ever consulting Valve about it.”
“We’re going to regret that decision for a very long time,” the company admitted.
In a warning to others considering a similar misstep, Dbrand noted, “Over a thousand hours were spent on engineering by our industrial design team. We developed forty-four sets of injection molding tools, one for each sub-component of the cube. The entire product was redesigned multiple times to ensure it fit the console perfectly. We even rented a university campus to film the launch video. By the end, we were losing money on every $99 Poverty Cube sold, but it had become a passion project for our entire team.”
They added, “Unfortunately, our pride in what we created didn’t grant us the right to produce it.”
Dbrand’s Companion Cube accessory quickly became the second-fastest selling product in the company’s history when pre-orders opened on June 22. However, Valve’s legal team intervened, reminding Dbrand that the Companion Cube is their intellectual property and requesting that they cease sales. Dbrand attempted to obtain a proper license afterward, but Valve declined.
“We created something that excited a lot of people, only to watch our chance to bring it to market go up in smoke,” Dbrand reflected. “It’s a tough lesson to learn in such a public way.”
Dbrand emphasized that “Valve didn’t do anything wrong here” and expressed regret for their hasty attempt to create their own Companion Cube. They have since redirected the Companion Cube product page on their website to a Reddit thread explaining the entire situation.
In that thread, Dbrand also addressed a likely common question. When a Redditor asked, “You guys are fucking stupid, you know that?” Dbrand simply replied, “Yes.”
Meanwhile, Valve’s first Steam Machines are being delivered to customers this week. Although the Steam Machine is currently sold out, interested buyers can join a waitlist to secure one.
