Dbrand to destroy canceled Companion Cube shells after Valve legal pushback
Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz told The Verge the company has no backup plan for its Portal-themed Steam Machine shell after canceling it.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
Dbrand will destroy every Companion Cube-style shell it made for Valve’s Steam Machine, according to comments its CEO Adam Ijaz gave The Verge. The cancellation ends a short-lived accessory tied closely to Portal imagery and underscores the legal risk of building products around another company’s game iconography.
The accessory was an external case for the Steam Machine styled after the Companion Cube from Valve’s Portal series. The Verge reported that Dbrand canceled the product on June 29 after Valve’s lawyers got involved.
Ijaz told The Verge there is no backup plan for the project. “There is no further plan. We fucked this one up,” he said, according to the publication.
Ijaz also told The Verge that Dbrand must destroy all of the cubes it manufactured. The Verge said the company will not dispose of them in an incinerator, despite the Portal reference that would have made that method thematically fitting.
A finished accessory that will not ship
The Verge photographed one of the shells on June 19, before the legal dispute derailed the product. Those photos showed a developed accessory with multiple functional details rather than an early mock-up.
According to The Verge, the shell used four screws on the rear cover, and a hex key for those screws fit inside the case when stored. The Steam Machine fit tightly inside, with enough resistance that the device did not slide in under gravity alone.
The front cover attached magnetically, The Verge reported. The case also included covers for front USB ports that used a soft rubber-like material held in place by friction and expansion, while the microSD cover was magnetic.
The Verge said the case did not block the Steam Machine’s vents. Four feet lifted the unit off the surface beneath it, and the front vent preserved a large air gap similar to the Steam Machine’s own front panel.
The shell also included a passthrough pusher for the Steam Machine’s power button, according to The Verge. The publication said the USB ports sat slightly offset in their openings; that prevented use of a somewhat oversized USB flash drive in testing, though cables would have fit.
Portal references were built in
The product leaned into Portal details beyond its cube shape. The Verge reported that a barcode on the shell read “THE CAKE IS A LIE,” a phrase associated with the game.
Another visible reference pointed to Test Chamber 11, which The Verge noted is the Portal level where the player gets the portal gun. One instruction on the shell read: “Ensure upright orientation before assembly or incineration,” according to The Verge.
The cancellation is notable because Dbrand has previously built a public persona around testing the limits of platform holders. The Verge reported that the company once shipped a product with a message aimed at Nintendo’s legal team, and that it prepared revised PlayStation 5 plates after Sony threatened legal action over an earlier version.
This time, Ijaz’s comments to The Verge left little room for a revival. Dbrand made the cubes, canceled them after Valve’s legal response, and now plans to destroy the remaining stock.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.