Steam Machine stock may be scarce, but hey, at least it hasn’t been taken off sale and scoured across the internet, never to be seen again. That’s exactly the fate of Dbrand’s unofficial Steam Machine Companion Cube case, a cleverly designed (if overpriced and rather useless) portal-themed accessory that turns out to be SO Unofficial, Dbrand never had permission from Valve to sell it. So now they aren’t anymore and have refunded everyone who ordered one.
“On November 12, 2025, the day the Steam Machine was announced, we set up a concept rendering and signup page to see if anyone would be interested in a Companion Cube case.” a sad reddit post explain. “It went moderately viral, with over fifteen thousand people signing up to be notified on day one. In the months that followed, we turned the idea into something real without ever asking Valve if we could.
“We will regret this decision for a very long time.”
The post claims that “over a thousand hours” were spent designing and engineering the case, which, in hindsight, makes it even stranger that they didn’t spend a thousandth of that time crafting a “kinda please” email to Gabe Newell’s office. Regardless, Dbrand announced the Companion Cube on June 22, hours before pricing and launch details for the Steam Machine were released, and had enough time to send out press samples and – allegedly – rack up enough sales to make it the company’s second-most popular product launch. Soon, however, Valve’s legal team came knocking.
“They stated that the Companion Cube is the intellectual property of Valve, which Dbrand does not have a license for,” the post continues. “They asked us to remove the product and release the film immediately. This was entirely within their rights, and they were direct, fair and respectful throughout the film.
“We took everything apart and appealed. We asked Valve if there was any way to keep the project alive: with a proper license, with their blessing, on their terms. They said no. Given our retrospective approach of building first and asking permission later, it was a fair answer.
“To Valve: thanks for Portal and sorry for the headache. We should have asked first.”
I’ll share a piece of the modest pie myself: I accepted a review unit assuming everything was flawless, in part because Dbrand wasn’t hitting the mark. combative tone that they adopted during previous confrontations between lawyers and partly because this thing was SO choking on portal iconography, there was no way they didn’t have Valve on board. Well, they didn’t, and the only reason I’m not the biggest in this situation is because I’ve never spent the equivalent of 42 days straight doing it.
