Question Can an asset developer permanently block access to a purchased asset?

Hi,

This is to find out what the rules are, since I've now lost access to an expensive asset. The developer switched to a subscription model outside the asset store, and the last release is an apparently booby-trapped package with a 4KB icon inside of it. I'm thus completely unable to ever install the asset again.

I contacted the developer to voice my displeasure, and it got into a heated discussion about his right to permanently block access to the $100 asset and force me into a $30/month subscription.

The developer will not provide the last version of the asset that was on the asset store, and the "last release" is an empty package. Unity no longer allows access to previous versions of assets.

While I did embed a very old version into the Git repo, it crashes on one platform, and I never thought to test.

So basically, I just lost $100. Is this what should be expected on the asset store, that you could be denied access to any asset you've purchased? That would make it critically important to download offline copies, and never actually depend on the package manager to be able to deliver what you've purchased.

Thanks,

Per

 

It does appear to me that the developer is in breach of the Provider Agreement, and that Asset Store customers are in fact guaranteed the ability to reinstall purchased assets, which is reassuring.

Here is an excerpt of some communication with the developer, which summarizes the clauses I believe are being violated. I would love comments and experiences.

In particular, in section 8.1.1 of the Provider Agreement, you promise the deliver the asset after termination of the Provider Agreement:

8.1.1 (...) Removing Provider's Assets from future distribution via the Unity Asset Store does not (a) affect the license rights of Customers who have previously purchased or downloaded Provider's Assets, (...) change Provider's obligation to deliver or support Assets or services that have been previously purchased or downloaded by Customers.

In section 6.3, you promise to allow Unity to continue to distribute the purchased asset, which you've actively prevented by uploading an empty package.

After termination of this Agreement, Unity will not distribute Provider's Assets to Customers that have not previously licensed Provider’s Assets, but may retain and use copies of the Assets in order for Unity to be able to fulfill any obligations towards Customers that will survive the removal of an Asset from the Unity Asset Store (for example reinstalls under Section 4.8).

In section 9.1, you promise to deliver an asset up to the last version in a SKU, which is what the customer has purchased a license to. By uploading an empty package, you're violating this clause.

9.1 Provider will, at no cost to Customers and Unity, supply via the Unity Asset Store any upgrades or otherwise updated versions of all Assets that a Customer has acquired a license to via the Unity Asset Store. For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 9.1 applies (a) only where the upgraded or otherwise updated Asset is the same SKU as prior to the upgrade or other updating; ...

All I really want is the asset I paid for. And it doesn't seem that he has a right to sabotage the distribution of a purchased asset.

 

This is a community forum. Contact Unity Support :
https://support.unity.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=65905

 

Thanks, I did. Still waiting to hear back.

The purpose of the post was not to have it resolved here, but to understand the rules and whether there's ever a risk of a developer legally removing access to reinstalls of a purchased asset.

So far, we don't know. The developer says that Unity literally told him to leave the empty/uninstallable package as the last and only available version. That hardly seems true, given that this would put Unity in direct breach of their own user agreement, and the developer in breach of the provider agreement.

So the question is still open. Does Unity not care or even bless blocking reinstalls of purchased assets? If so, the entire asset store promise kind of breaks.

I just want to know which world we live in, whether it's the one where the asset store rules are trustworthy, or where it's every person for themselves, and if you don't extract every single .unitypackage and keep it safe somewhere, tough luck when Unity and the developer yank access to your purchased items.

 

This is what only Unity can answer with authority. I suspect that the publisher was lying and Unity will help you iron out the problem when they will have the opportunity. But this is only my private opinion it is no shape or form has anything to do with anything official.

BTW it would be beneficial knowing the asset's name.

 

The answer from Unity implies that yes, you can permanently lose access to anything you've paid for on the asset store. No purchase is safe. This is deeply scary, and a well-kept secret, given that all the user and provider agreements expressly promise the ability to reinstall. But it's false. You have no right to reinstall anything you've purchased. In my case, I paid $100 for an asset, and I have zero bytes on my hard drive, with no possibility of ever installing what I purchased.

Here is the answer from the asset store.

Derek from the Unity Customer Experience here. Thank you for getting in touch.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with XXXXXXX you purchased a while ago.

I've looked into the publisher XXXXXX and from what I can see in our system the publisher has deprecated all of their Assets from our store.

If the Asset is not published on our store there isn't much we can do about it. If the Asset is deprecated then we cannot dictate the publisher in any way to update the Asset I'm sincerely sorry about that.

If the Asset is now on a subscription service it's not sold on our store. In addition to this, it may be that the Asset requires many updates and support which may be more suitable towards a subscription service.

I realize this isn't the answer you were looking for and I'm sincerely sorry about that.

Please feel free to get back to me if you have any follow-up questions. All the best.

Kind regards
Derek
Customer Experience Specialist - Asset Store

 

There is one asset that can make sure you have backup of your asset store purchases, really good for cases like this.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/utilities/asset-inventory-226927

 

Hi,

That looks like an interesting asset for cherry-picking assets, and I'll probably get it.

But it doesn't address the issue of paid assets simply disappearing, or the developer uploading one last empty asset just to burn the bridge behind him.

I think there's only one proper solution, which is to start saving every single .unitypackage file. You'd also have to periodically check whether a package has been updated, and download a new .unitypackage.

It's wild that it's possible to buy something on the asset store and end up with zero bytes on your hard disk because you trusted your purchased assets to be available. The guarantee is even mentioned over and over in the user and provider agreements. But it's not real. You can lose access to paid assets. Then you just paid, but got nothing, and not even a refund. Basically you just made some kind of donation to Unity and the developer.

 

Asset Inventory can save every single asset package you own. even can keep more than one version.

I had assets dissapearing from the asset-store that I had bought before, sometimes there was a copyright problem, sometimes there was other problems, but yes assets can disappear. So thats why I asked the developer of Asset Inventory to add this functionality. You can ask him in discord if it does everything you want but I'm pretty sure it does already.

 

Beautiful, I'll totally get it. Didn't immediately notice that feature in the videos.

 

Oh, boy, Asset Inventory is exactly what I need, and basically what everyone needs.

 

Yeah its a game changer

 

The asset is a bit of a tough import into a project that already uses SQLite. I'll contact the developer. Thanks for suggesting this.

 

You could run the asset inventory on an empty project and download all assets there, but yea best to contact the dev

 

I think it's also just confronting some assembly reference confusion I have in my projects. I'll straighten it out, it shouldn't spoil the party.

 

I haven't been able to get backup to work. I've contacted the developer, but haven't heard back. The manual is sparse.

Do you have any words of wisdom about how it's supposed to work? No matter how much I download or index, the asset backup folder remains empty, even with all backup options enabled.

 

Best is to join the discord channel, its the best place for quick support and the dev is there every day.

 

Got it, thanks!

 

Got it, thanks!

 

BTW, just for completeness, you don't need 3rd-party assets to save your downloaded assets, you can backup / restore the asset store cache folder any time with any backup tools or even manually ziping it up. https://docs.unity3d.com/2022.1/Documentation/Manual/upm-config-cache-as.html

 

Certainly so, once one knows it. The Unity agreements and package manager design and the fact that they download packages into hidden folders had me fooled into believing that I had any kind of right to anything I've purchased and would always be able to download it.

I'm using Asset Inventory now to download every version of every package I own.

 

Calling these hidden is a stretch.

Maybe on Linux. But still. Nothing is hidden about this, it is well documented.

 

No, of course not hidden in a way that I'll never find them. But you have to at least enable showing hidden folders to see them, which indicates that these aren't intended to be regular user-serviceable. I'd at least have to do an internet search to find out where they are. What Unity says to me is that they don't *intend* for me to handle them.

 

They even made proper UI to change/handle them. Although they mistakenly put it into the editor preferences and not in the UnityHub where it should be.

 

It's a cache. You can extract things from the cache, certainly. But this is not Unity in any way explaining that you HAVE to do this, or you could lose your assets. Instead, you're supposed to install it from the front and center package manager. The buttons in the app store are even called "Buy", but it's not buying.

I don't know why you're going out of your way to defend these purchases that are explicitly not purchased and where you have to dig the assets out of a cache in a folder that's hidden by default if you want to keep the things you purchased.

Yes, you're a very cool guy that you know how to find things in hidden directories. But this is not obvious to most people after clicking a Buy button. I've coded C++ on very important projects for 30 years. I couldn't figure it out at all, it took me completely by surprise. So at least, the number of people who are surprised by this is higher than 0.0000%. I will venture to say that close to 100% of users are unaware of this, and Unity is doing nothing to communicate it. I've heard discussion in other forums about a class action lawsuit against Unity. That's how extremely non-obvious it is.

But yes, you're very cool that it was obvious to you and you didn't lose any assets.

 

WTF am I reading here? Your strawman is definitely great.

 

While i'm not a lawyer, the answer from unity there just has to be wrong. Some open source repositories had similar situations, where they switched to a proprietary license (basically the same that the author seemingly did here - switch the license/terms). From what i gathered, you still have legal access to the old version that is based on the license you accepted there, you just can't use the new version in the same way.
If unity explicitly does not grant you the same rights or options, that would be nothing short of a scandal (and possibly illegal) and people should be made aware of it, it would make the asset store the perfect place for (legal?) scams.