[0:00] I've been keeping up quite closely with
[0:03] everything going on in the gaming space
[0:05] over the last couple weeks. Obviously,
[0:07] I've been yapping about it a lot. I
[0:08] can't stop blabbering about it really
[0:11] because it has just been awful news out
[0:14] the wazoo every single day. It's a
[0:17] septic tank explosion that I can't look
[0:19] away from. And while I sit here just
[0:22] wideeyed like someone who just saw
[0:24] boobies for the first time, I'm now also
[0:27] seeing things like adjacent to the AAA
[0:30] gaming space falling victim to the orb
[0:33] of confusion. Dbrand, an extremely
[0:36] popular company that specializes in like
[0:39] customizable cases and skins for
[0:42] devices, has now just made a bafflingly
[0:45] awful admittance here about their highly
[0:49] anticipated companion cube product,
[0:51] which was supposed to be a case for the
[0:54] Steam Machine. Well, it turns out they
[0:57] never even had permission to make that.
[0:59] It they never had a license. They even
[1:01] spent thousands upon thousands of clams
[1:04] to put this in front of everyone's
[1:05] peepers. They sponsored Lionus Tech Tips
[1:07] here in this video as an integration for
[1:09] him to show this off and promote the
[1:12] companion cube from Dbrand. But
[1:13] meanwhile, they never even had a license
[1:15] for it. So, they went straight to like
[1:17] marketing it, doing a huge marketing
[1:19] spend, thousands of dloons to develop
[1:22] it, obviously thousands of hours to make
[1:24] it as well to manufacture it. But they
[1:27] skipped step one of getting a license,
[1:29] getting permission to do it. How is that
[1:30] possible? That is DBrain deadad. Now,
[1:33] I'm not the biggest consumer of this
[1:35] kind of product. I don't buy customized
[1:38] skins and and protective devices or
[1:40] anything like that, but I am familiar
[1:41] with Dbrand. They are a huge
[1:43] corporation. They're a big company. I'm
[1:44] most familiar with them because of
[1:46] everything that happened with them verse
[1:47] Caseify with the plagiarism stuff. That
[1:50] was some wacky I don't
[1:52] know if Caseify still exists. I don't
[1:54] know how they could after how
[1:55] embarrassingly cringe that was back
[1:57] then. But that's like the main thing I
[2:00] remember about Dbrand. I don't really
[2:02] keep up with their products, but after
[2:03] seeing this, I decided to look into it
[2:05] to see if they normally get like
[2:06] permission and stuff. And while I can't
[2:08] see if they always do, it seems like
[2:10] they love to tiptoe on the line of
[2:12] legality. Like even back in, I think it
[2:14] was 2021, they had a legal spat with
[2:17] Sony about their dark face plates Dbrand
[2:20] was doing where they even egged on Sony
[2:22] to sue them. And Sony eventually did
[2:26] cease and desist them from what I can
[2:27] tell. they stopped. So Sony said, "All
[2:29] right, bet." And big dogged them. And it
[2:33] seems like that's part of Dbrand's image
[2:34] is that they're kind of like the bad
[2:36] boys. And this is I guess just another
[2:39] marketing tactic from them to get their
[2:40] name out there like, "Oh, we're getting
[2:41] sued by these companies, which I guess
[2:44] it's effective. It does get the brand's
[2:46] name out there." And they are very
[2:47] successful. I don't really get the point
[2:50] though to be honest like especially in
[2:52] the case with companion cube because
[2:54] they spent so much money doing this and
[2:58] never had the license or permission and
[3:00] no one can really rally behind that and
[3:02] support them like you know pumping their
[3:04] fist for the little guy against Valve
[3:05] that's trying to bully them unjustly
[3:07] like they even openly admit yeah we just
[3:09] never asked we just never got permission
[3:12] like how do you like you you can't
[3:13] defend that you can't like be on
[3:15] Dbrand's side all you did was waste not
[3:17] only all your time and resourc resources
[3:18] and the time of your employees, but you
[3:21] also wasted the time of all the people
[3:23] that put in the pre-order and Now,
[3:25] it does seem all of them are getting a
[3:27] refund, so that's great, but like what
[3:30] the was the point in this whole
[3:31] charade, the this hoot and nanny? I I I
[3:34] find it hard to believe that they just
[3:36] didn't think to get a license or ask for
[3:38] permission. But anyway, let's take a
[3:39] look at their statement. As you've
[3:41] probably noticed, the Steam Machine
[3:42] Companion Cube was eviscerated from our
[3:44] website, YouTube, and other social media
[3:46] platforms last week. The blunt version
[3:48] is that we made the companion cube
[3:49] without a license from Valve. Everyone
[3:51] who purchased the companion cube will
[3:52] have their refund issued by end of day.
[3:54] Everything else beyond this is just
[3:56] detail. If you want the full story, keep
[3:58] reading. I want the full scoop, please.
[4:00] On November 12th, 2025, the day the
[4:03] Steam Machine was announced, we put up a
[4:05] concept render and signup page to see if
[4:06] anyone would be interested in a
[4:08] companion cube enclosure. Went
[4:09] moderately viral with over 15,000 people
[4:12] signing up to be notified in the first
[4:14] day. In the months that followed, we
[4:15] built the idea into something real
[4:16] without ever asking Valve if we could.
[4:19] Why though? Like why would you do that?
[4:22] So like it's fine to put up like that
[4:24] render and get interest. Hey, how would
[4:26] you guys feel if we did pursue this? But
[4:28] then why wouldn't the next step be like,
[4:29] "Oh, okay. There's clear demand here.
[4:30] You guys are hungry. You got some
[4:32] grumbly bellies and you need a companion
[4:33] cube in there. Go, don't you?" Okay,
[4:35] we'll ask Valve if we can. Like I don't
[4:37] know how being a business of Dbrand's
[4:40] size that wouldn't cross your mind. I
[4:42] believe that they did this knowing full
[4:44] well that they were playing with fire
[4:46] and that if they did get shut down, it
[4:48] would only be good for them as like no
[4:50] publicity is bad publicity and that this
[4:52] would be something people would be
[4:53] supportive of. Like, hey, Dbrand fought
[4:55] the good fight. It didn't work out, but
[4:57] we're real Dbrand diehard loyalists now
[4:59] cuz they really went for it with the
[5:01] companion cube. I'm not even seeing that
[5:02] response from anyone, even the
[5:04] biggest fans of Dbrand. Everyone's
[5:05] calling this stupid because it doesn't
[5:08] even make sense. Like it is actually
[5:09] going out of your way to be an imbecile
[5:11] to not ask the company whom you're using
[5:14] their IP if you have if you can do that.
[5:16] Like you need to get the license. Like
[5:18] that's the most basic ever everyone
[5:21] knows. We're going to regret that
[5:23] decision for a very long time. Over the
[5:25] next 7 months we poured our souls into
[5:27] this project. More than a thousand hours
[5:28] went into engineering from our
[5:30] industrial design team. 44 sets of
[5:32] injection molding tools were developed,
[5:34] one for each of the cube subcomponents.
[5:36] The entire product was redesigned from
[5:38] scratch more than once just to get it
[5:40] just to get the way it cradles the
[5:42] console exactly right. We literally
[5:44] rented out a university campus to film
[5:46] the launch video. By the end, we were
[5:48] losing money on every $99 poverty cube
[5:51] sold, but it didn't matter. This had
[5:53] turned into a passion project for the
[5:54] entire organization. So, you went
[5:57] through all of this and never once
[5:59] thought, maybe we should ask, maybe we
[6:02] should at least be safe and see if
[6:04] Valve's going to be okay with it. Let's
[6:05] try and get a license here. Somehow
[6:07] you've BLJ backward long jumped through
[6:10] the first step here, completely
[6:12] forgetting to ask about the license, and
[6:14] now you're trying to film a launch
[6:16] video, renting out a university campus
[6:18] for it. Probably directed by
[6:20] Christopher Nolan or something. And
[6:22] still no one pipes up and says, "Guys,
[6:26] should we ask permission to do this?"
[6:28] Like, we still never got the thumbs up
[6:30] from Valve, the green light. What do you
[6:32] thoughts? Thoughts? Unfortunately, being
[6:34] proud of the thing we made did not give
[6:36] us the right to make it. We launched
[6:38] around 3:00 a.m. on Monday, June 22nd.
[6:40] Overnight, it became the second fastest
[6:42] selling product in our 15-year history
[6:44] behind only the Switch 2 kill switch.
[6:46] Shortly after Valve's legal team reached
[6:48] out, they stated that the companion cube
[6:49] is Valve intellectual property, for
[6:51] which Dbrand does not have a license.
[6:53] They requested we take down the product
[6:54] and launch film immediately. This was
[6:56] entirely within their rights, and they
[6:58] were direct, fair, and respectful
[6:59] throughout. We took everything down and
[7:01] made an appeal. We asked Valve whether
[7:03] there was any way to keep the project
[7:04] alive, properly licensed with their
[7:07] blessing on their terms. They said no.
[7:09] Given our backwards approach of building
[7:11] first, asking permission later, it was a
[7:13] fair answer. That's basically the whole
[7:15] story. We made something a lot of people
[7:17] were excited about then incinerated our
[7:18] shot at bringing it to the market. It's
[7:20] a hard lesson to learn publicly. But I I
[7:23] I
[7:25] you've actually got me malfunctioning.
[7:26] How is that a lesson you needed to learn
[7:28] at all? Everyone already knows that.
[7:30] That's like basic common sense. Even if
[7:32] you've never been in business or
[7:34] anything, just boiling it down to the
[7:36] bare bones here, if you were going to
[7:38] make something based on someone else's
[7:40] work and sell it for yourself,
[7:43] don't you think like naturally your
[7:45] brain would go, maybe I should ask the
[7:47] people that own that if they'd be okay
[7:49] with it? Like even if you know nothing
[7:50] about licensing or whatever, that's like
[7:51] the most basic, you know, following the
[7:54] breadcrumbs of thoughts imaginable. Like
[7:57] it feels deliberate. It feels like they
[7:59] didn't want to ask for a license cuz
[8:01] they knew it might be a slow process,
[8:02] which means they would be late to the
[8:04] Steam the Steam Machine market. They'd
[8:06] be late to the launch. So, in order to
[8:09] be there on time, right away to
[8:10] capitalize off the hype train, they felt
[8:13] that they needed to immediately go in
[8:14] production and didn't have time to deal
[8:16] with that pesky license. So, they
[8:18] crossed their fingers and hoped for the
[8:19] best. That's what it feels like to me if
[8:22] this isn't just another one of like
[8:23] their marketing things. But, it's still
[8:24] such a stupid gamble. Like, it's still
[8:26] dumb. It goes without saying, but we'll
[8:28] say it regardless. Valve didn't do
[8:29] anything wrong here. They built a game
[8:31] franchise a lot of people love, and they
[8:32] alone get to decide how it's used. To
[8:34] everyone who was who was as excited
[8:36] about this project as we were, thank you
[8:38] and sorry. Refunds are being issued
[8:40] today. If it hasn't landed in your
[8:41] account by end of week, you know how to
[8:42] reach us. To Valve, thank you for
[8:44] Portal. Sorry for the headache. We
[8:45] should have asked first. I can at least
[8:47] appreciate that they're not trying to
[8:49] fling at Valve for this or paint
[8:51] them as the bad guys for stepping in.
[8:53] That was big of them because I thought
[8:56] when I initially read the headlines that
[8:57] they'd try and like fight back like,
[8:59] "No, why is Valve doing this? They're
[9:00] stomping all over us. This is absurd."
[9:03] But they are outright saying, "Yeah,
[9:05] Valve didn't do anything wrong. We're
[9:07] dumb." I still find it just so hard to
[9:09] believe that they wouldn't have even
[9:10] toyed with the idea of trying to get
[9:13] permission from Valve or get a license.
[9:14] So, I still believe it's one of two
[9:16] things. a a calculated marketing uh
[9:19] tactic here where they were willing to
[9:21] roll the dice and if it did go tits up
[9:23] as it inevitably did that they thought
[9:25] this would be good publicity regardless
[9:27] for the Dbrand image and it fits in line
[9:30] with how they've conducted it in the
[9:31] past like with Sony as as it appears. So
[9:36] maybe it could have been like a
[9:37] marketing thing which again I don't
[9:38] think was smart anyway cuz you devoted
[9:40] so much time and resources to this with
[9:42] so many thousands of signups. I I really
[9:44] like all you do is just lose money on
[9:46] that. I don't think it does anything for
[9:47] your brand image and it just paints you
[9:49] as dumb for it. Or it could be uh that
[9:54] they knew that if they tried to go
[9:55] through the proper channels of getting
[9:56] the licensing first for the companion
[9:59] cube in order to use the portal license
[10:01] to make the companion cube, they thought
[10:02] it would take too long and they'd miss
[10:04] this golden opportunity, this window to
[10:06] be there right away for the Steam
[10:08] Machine for the Steam Machine users and
[10:10] have this companion cube ready off RIP.
[10:12] So, just being early, they didn't they
[10:15] didn't want to take the chance of being
[10:17] too late. So, they decided, "Fuck it. We
[10:19] won't even bother with the permission of
[10:21] the license. We'll just hope they're
[10:22] cool with it." And it didn't work out.
[10:24] Both of these though are not smart.
[10:26] They're both dumb. And I can't decide
[10:28] what's worse. If they made just a bad
[10:31] business decision of knowingly just not
[10:33] getting the license, or if this is a
[10:35] company run by individuals who never
[10:37] even think to get permission first. it
[10:40] never crosses their mind like ah we're
[10:42] so ditsy and we just got so excited we
[10:44] dove right into the companion cube
[10:45] started making it going to marketing
[10:47] pushing it renting out a university
[10:48] campus and would you believe it not a
[10:50] single one of us even thought to contact
[10:52] Valve about a license ain't that the
[10:54] darnest thing like I don't know what's
[10:56] worse if they're like run by people that
[10:58] are that absent-minded or if they just
[11:00] made such a stupid decision uh about
[11:03] like knowingly avoiding the license and
[11:05] hoping for the best either way
[11:08] decision here from D brand as a company.
[11:11] This was a a wacky little thing to be
[11:12] learning about. Uh anyway, that's about
[11:14] it. See you.