Prop maker dbrand was forced to cancel, at the last minute, the launch of a shell destined for the Steam Deck. The reason ? The presence of a magnetic crutch which can restrict the performance of the fan.
” Project Killswitch will not launch for the public tonight », sadly announces dbrand in a tweet posted on September 28. The prop maker, known for his fight against Sony for his PS5 plates, was to launch a shell for the Steam Deck, Valve’s portable console. He had to backpedal at the last minute after the discovery of a defect, highlighted by the journalists of The Verge – who despite everything love the qualities of the product in terms of design and protection.
The Project Killswitch case is actually equipped with a kickstand on the back. The problem? It is magnetic and can therefore slow down the Steam Deck’s fan. After further self-testing, dbrand decided to revisit the project and replace the magnetic technology with a mechanical design — which will take some time.
dbrand’s “million dollar” mistake with its Steam Deck case
It makes you wonder how dbrand couldn’t figure this out before. In a statement posted on Reddit on September 29 and titled “ Our million dollar mistake “, the company has been transparent. She explains that neither her numerous experiments nor the first feedback from content creators revealed this defect. Is there negligence on his part? dbrand eventually figured out why The Verge was able to discover this bias for him: it’s all tied to the brand of the fan installed in the Steam Deck.
There are indeed two different fans in the Steam Deck: some are equipped with a component produced by Delta, others by Huaying. We already knew that the Delta solution was the louder of the two. And it turns out she’s also the most susceptible to interference from dbrand’s magnetic kickstand. The firm could not realize this because, unfortunately, all its test models are equipped with a Huaying fan (unlike The Verge). To verify the claims of the media, dbrand borrowed a Steam Deck equipped with a Delta fan. With the following conclusion: The Verge is right: with the kickstand attached, there is a reduction in Delta fan speed. »
If dbrand affirms that Valve only supplies Huaying, it does not want to take any risk for the first owners who inherited a Delta model (not to mention the lack of visibility in the longer term). Especially since slowing down the fan of a device can have more serious consequences on its performance and operation (overheating, unpleasant hissing). Those who will receive a Project Killswitch case in the coming days are encouraged not to use the kickstand. The persons concerned will then be entitled to a replacement copy when the defect is corrected. In the meantime, dbrand must fully assume this fiasco, which could have been much worse without the intervention of The Verge.