Unity Asset Store Publisher scam???
Monday, October 4, 2021 - 16:55
Anybody here heard what is going on? I can't get any clear answers from Unity about all the publishers that have been removed. Also whether it is safe to even buy assets from the Unity Asset Store anymore. Anyone know of other safe sites like TurboSquid or CGTrader? Thanks
https://forum.unity.com/threads/list-of-ripped-models-stolen-models-on-t...
TurboSquid and CGTrader aren't 100% safe either. There're a lot of stolen models and you can't know that unless it's from popular game or you do your own research or stumble upon it accidentally somewhere else. Sketchfab (https://sketchfab.com/) is also similar to two mentioned and again - it's not 100% safe, just like basically anything. Uploaders will even claim it's they who made it, but in reality it can be ripped from some game and sometimes simply retextured. I personally downloaded one good looking 3d sci-fi character model purely for its armor, which I then changed and reshaped for my needs, wasting like 2 or 3 days on that, until I ACCIDENTALLY saw exactly this armor on one unpopular MMO's screenshots which I never even heard about like 2 or 3 months later when I simply googled images of sci-fi armors just for insipration. It means that you may think you have good looking legal 3d asset for your game, but in reality you don't.
Oh and it's not just 3D, look at Unity Asset Store's 2D icons (abilities, inventory icons)... there're A LOT of the same recolored or slightly changed icons from completely different authors, which means they're either partners/friends (seriously?!) or one of them is the real author (or none) and the rest are scammers.
So you accidentally found it? That was lucky. I started to download the assets from one of my prototype games when I learned that the publisher had been removed. That is how I found out. I did some research on the company but found nothing. I contacted Unity, and they said nothing. I asked several YouTubers and they said nothing. I was in the dark about why my assets were removed. I have nearly 1,000 assets on the asset store, with no way of knowing which ones are illegal. I tried contacting one of the publisher for a project that was nearly read for alpha testing, but have not heard from them. So for me, researching did nothing bc I was kept in the dark.
So do you prefer Sketchfab? I started with OGA for 2d, found out about TurboSquid for 3d when I first started unity and then over the last few years purchased from Unity because it was cheaper. But I'm learning cheaper is not better.
BAG
@Lee Davis: are you saying you were sharing assets on the Unity asset store that were then removed? Or you were trying to use assets from the Unity asset store in your game projects?
--Medicine StormI purchased a licence to use assets from the asset stroe. Created a prototype game. Went to downlaod the assets that I had previously purchased and found out they were not available. I did not share any assets on the asset store or any other site. The assets that I had purchased were removed by Unity, the publisher's Unity Asset Home page was removed, so I could not even contact the publisher to get info. I hope that clarifies things for you.
BAG
Yes it does clarify things. Thank you. I gather the main issue is that you are unable to determine which assets to contact Unity about for a refund, yes?
--Medicine Storm