Manufacturer Dbrand has unceremoniously canceled its highly anticipated Companion Cube accessory for Valve's Steam Machine, removing promotional materials and halting sales after admitting to proceeding without the necessary permissions from Valve. The company cited a failure to obtain a license from Valve for the design, which was inspired by the iconic Companion Cube from the Portal series.
More than 15,000 customers had signed up to purchase the $129.95 accessory, which was designed to encase the Steam Machine in a cube-shaped shell. Dbrand stated on its subreddit that all purchasers would receive full refunds by the end of the day. The company acknowledged this as a significant misstep, with a representative writing, "We're going to regret that decision for a very long time."
Dbrand detailed the substantial investment in developing the Companion Cube, noting that over a thousand hours were dedicated by its industrial design team. This included the creation of 44 sets of injection molding tools for the various sub-components and multiple redesigns to ensure the console cradled correctly within the accessory. The company even rented university grounds to film the launch video, characterizing the project as a passion project despite incurring losses on each unit sold at $99.
Pre-orders for the Companion Cube went live on June 22 and quickly became Dbrand's second-fastest selling product in its history. However, Valve's legal team subsequently contacted Dbrand, identifying the Companion Cube as Valve's intellectual property and requesting that sales cease. Dbrand reported that attempts to retroactively license the accessory were declined by Valve.
"We made something a lot of people were excited about, then incinerated our shot at bringing it to market," Dbrand stated, recognizing the hard lesson learned publicly. The company emphasized that Valve had done nothing wrong and apologized for its approach. The product page on Dbrand's website now redirects to the Reddit thread where the company explained the situation.
In response to community feedback, Dbrand candidly admitted to its mistake when a Redditor commented, "You guys are fucking stupid, you know that?" The company replied, "Yes."
Meanwhile, Valve's first Steam Machines are beginning to ship to customers. The Steam Machine is currently sold out, with a waitlist available for interested buyers.