3D Printing Enthusiast Resurrects dbrand's Killed Steam Machine Companion Cube

dbrand's Companion Cube Gets Shelved

When Valve's Steam Machine launched last month, accessory maker dbrand unveiled a cheeky Portal-inspired 'Companion Cube' shell for it — and promptly had to kill the project after Valve pointed out the Companion Cube is Valve intellectual property for which dbrand had no license. Despite thousands of hours sunk into industrial design and injection molding, the product was pulled.

A Maker Rebuilds It From Scratch

That's where the 3D printing community stepped in. A Printables user going by Jaron published a fan-made Steam Machine Companion Cube Case — an unofficial Portal Companion Cube shell you can print and assemble yourself. According to Jaron, it was built 'from scratch' based entirely on images of dbrand's design, and is not affiliated with Valve or Steam nor uses any official game assets.

What's in the Build

The clever part is that it's designed for a single-extruder printer: you pause at specific layers to swap filament and get the multi-color panel look, with a slicer handling the transitions. The listing includes an extensive parts list — screws, heat-set inserts, and magnets (sourced via Amazon) — plus the specific Sunlu and Overture filaments used to nail the look. Jaron also supplied detailed written assembly instructions and multiple YouTube walkthroughs.

It's explicitly not a beginner project, but the documentation makes it approachable for an intermediate maker with a weekend to spare. On thermals, Jaron notes no vents or airflow are blocked, and the added faceplate vent may actually help cooling — though no extensive thermal testing was done.

The Bigger Picture

This is a neat example of why 3D printing keeps outrunning traditional manufacturing on speed-to-market and 'right to repair' culture. When a licensed product dies in a legal dispute, the community can reconstruct the idea as an open, printable file within weeks. Whether that draws a fresh copyright complaint remains to be seen — but for now, anyone with a Steam Machine and a printer can build the cube dbrand couldn't ship.

Want to try a project like this? Stock up on Sunlu filament and grab the free files from Printables to get started.