Over six months ago, Dbrand introduced a stunning mod for the Steam Machine that transformed Valve’s latest gaming PC into the Companion Cube. It was cute, reasonably priced, and by most accounts, quite well made. The only problem is that Dbrand forgot to ask Valve for permission. So even after garnering over 100,000 pre-orders, the company was forced to cancel the accessory and remove all of its listings last week.
In a surprisingly posted post on Reddit, Dbrand admitted that despite all the work it took to make its case, it had never requested or received a license from Valve to use Valve’s images and intellectual property. Portal – the game that originally gave birth to the Companion Cube – on its product. Unsurprisingly, after the mod went on sale last week, Valve’s legal team contacted Dbrand and asked the company to remove the product and remove any associated materials.
Dbrand says it tried to reach an agreement with Valve to keep the Companion Cube mod on sale, which Valve refused. To Dbrand’s credit, given the backwards nature of making a product without a license and seeking permission after the fact, the company seems to understand why Valve didn’t want to give it its blessing. In its post, Dbrand said: “Valve has done nothing wrong here. They have built a game franchise that many people love and only they can decide how it is used.” However, perhaps the most poignant comment came from user Degenerate_Media on Reddit, but we’ll let you read that for yourself.
Unfortunately, that means anyone who’s been itching to personalize their Steam Machine with a Companion Cube-themed case is out of luck, with Dbrand saying refunds for the product are being issued today. Additionally, for international customers who would have had to pay additional shipping fees, the company also says that these fees will also be included in the refund.
In the end, I guess it’s like cake PortalDbrand’s Companion Cube is also a lie.
