Dbrand removes Steam Machine Companion Cube from sale due to copyright infringement

When Valve finally lifted the lid on its long-rumored Steam Machine late last year, hardware skin and accessory maker Dbrand began teasing a Steam Machine Companion Cube skin modeled and inspired by the Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube found in Valve's Portal and Portal 2, with the iconic heart design that doubles as a nod to the not-so-nice AI GLaDOS that messes with players. So yeah, getting a Steam Machine 'Companion Cube' skin feels like a match made in heaven, or Test Chamber 17.

2

According to Dbrand, over 15,000 people registered their interest in picking up the Steam Machine 'Companion Cube' late last year. And although the recent Steam Machine launch meant that the skin would finally go on sale, it turns out Dbrand forgot to ask Valve for permission to create something based on one of its most recognized properties.

We built the idea into something real without ever asking Valve if we could," a Reddit post from Dbrand says. Adding, "We're going to regret that decision for a very long time." Basically, Valve's legal team reached out to remind them that the "Companion Cube is Valve intellectual property, for which Dbrand does not have a license." And with that, the Steam Machine Companion Cube skin is no more, with refunds being issued.

Here's the full statement from Dbrand, which confirms that Valve wasn't at fault and that its "backward approach of building first and asking permission later" was to blame. Dbrand did attempt to get a license to sell the Steam Machine 'Companion Cube' skin after the fact, but was rejected.

As you've probably noticed, the Steam Machine Companion Cube was eviscerated from our website, YouTube, and other social media platforms last week.

The blunt version is that we made the Companion Cube without a license from Valve. Everyone who purchased a Companion Cube will have their refund issued by end-of-day. Everything else beyond this is just detail. If you want the full story, keep reading.

On November 12th 2025, the day the Steam Machine was announced, we put up a concept render and sign-up page to see if anyone would be interested in a Companion Cube enclosure. It went moderately viral, with over fifteen thousand 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.

We're going to regret that decision for a very long time.

Over the next seven months, we poured our souls into this project. More than a thousand hours went into engineering from our industrial design team. Forty-four sets of injection molding tools were developed, one for each of the cube's sub-components. The entire product was redesigned from scratch more than once, just to get the way it cradles the console exactly right. We literally rented out a university campus to film the launch video. By the end, we were losing money on every $99 Poverty Cube sold, but it didn't matter. This had turned into a passion project for the entire organization.

Unfortunately, being proud of the thing we made did not give us the right to make it.

We launched around 3am on Monday, June 22nd. Overnight, it became the second-fastest selling product in our 15-year history, behind only the Switch 2 Killswitch.

Shortly after, Valve's legal team reached out. They stated that the Companion Cube is Valve intellectual property, for which dbrand does not have a license. They requested we take down the product and launch film immediately. This was entirely within their rights, and they were direct, fair, and respectful throughout.

We took everything down and made an appeal. We asked Valve whether there was any way to keep the project alive: properly licensed, with their blessing, on their terms. They said no. Given our backwards approach of building first and asking permission later, it was a fair answer.

That's basically the whole story. We made something a lot of people were excited about, then incinerated our shot at bringing it to market. It's a hard lesson to learn publicly.

It goes without saying, but we'll say it regardless: Valve didn't do anything wrong here. They built a game franchise a lot of people love and they alone get to decide how it's used.

To everyone who was as excited about this project as we were: thank you, and sorry. Refunds are being issued today. If it hasn't landed in your account by the end of this week, you know how to reach us.

To Valve: thank you for Portal, and sorry for the headache. We should've asked first.