Valve threatens legal action against Dbrand over its unsanctioned Portal 2-inspired Companion Cube — edgy accessories manufacturer kills product after asking for licensing deal, admits it didn’t have ‘the right to make it’

When the Steam Machine was first unveiled, aesthetic customization was one of its biggest talking points beyond the hardware itself. At the time, Dbrand showed off a case modeled after the iconic Weighted Companion Cube from Portal 2 and later sold it for $99 — all without ever asking Valve permission for the use of its IP. Therefore, as expected, the case is now gone, and every order will be subsequently refunded.

RIP Companion Cube from r/dbrand

This is pretty characteristic of Dbrand, a company that prides itself on its edgy corporate branding where it often doesn’t care about playing by the rules. That’s fine as long as the rule-breaking is limited to cursing out your customers on social media, but it doesn’t work when you violate copyright law. If anything, Valve was generous with allowing Dbrand to get away with selling the case for this long without repercussions.

That’s precisely the takeaway from the company’s official statement (embedded above) where it calls Valve “direct, fair, and respectful throughout.” Valve’s legal team reached out to Dbrand and asked it to shut down the entire operation; halt sales immediately and take down the sales page and all promotional content. Dbrand complied and even extended a hand for an official collaboration, but Valve turned down the offer.

The popular skin manufacturer has previously found itself in similar hot waters with Sony and Nintendo. You may remember the famous “Darkplates” saga where the company similarly took advantage of an open customization feature and started selling faceplates for the newly-launched PS5. On the other hand, it also sold unofficial Zelda skins for the Switch OLED, literally called “Clone of the Kingdom.”

It’s one thing to produce accessories with original designs, but it’s a completely different thing to use said company’s IP as the design, regardless of the engineering efforts behind it. That’s why the Darkplates eventually came back, but the Zelda skin can’t. And it’s also why a Portal 2-themed case can’t realistically exist without asking the company who owns Portal. Valve had to draw a line somewhere to protect its IP and avoid creating precedence for future litigation.

Anyhow, this machoistic corporate strategy has worked wonders for Dbrand’s online following, but even the fans called out this move as comically stupid. Beyond the copyright violation, the chance of an official partnership is now gone, too. Dbrand said the Companion Cube case became its second-fastest selling product ever, implying things would’ve certainly worked out had Dbrand approached Valve ahead of time.