To open the Asset Store window, select Window > General > Asset Store from the main menu in Unity. During your first visit, you can create a free user account which allows you to log into the Store on future visits and keep track of previous purchases and downloads.

Today marks the 5th time I have searched for an asset I purchased, in my downloads, only to find it has been removed from the asset store (EDIT: EVEN as Deprecated) - and this is becoming an issue.

Last night I went though my purchase history (I suggest you all do the same) and opened every asset I purchased in a new tab. If the tab came back with a 404 page - I would search in my downloads within Unity to see if the asset was still available Depricated.

To my surprise almost a thousand dollars worth of my assets have been pulled from the store without notice or reimbursement to the owners. I sent an e-mail to Unity asking about this and for a refund. I was told by Unity that:

'We usually count on asset store customers to back up their assets once they have purchased and downloaded them'

I was also told that Unity will not refund anything over 6 months old. Needless to say this is all bullshit.

To be clear:

Unity will remove assets you have purchased without telling you.

I understand developers taking an asset down or abandoning it for whatever reason - but if we paid for it, we should still have access it, or a refund.

I know for myself this problem is a combination of things like Asset Store Sales and the horrible refund policy Unity has implemented. The sales themselves aren't the problem, they're wonderful, but they encourage developers to pick up assets on a whim. I often grab cheap assets or even new assets because I think I can use it later.

But when later comes and it's gone...

Download Unity Assets Without Unity

Unity requires the Asset Creator to give an okay and also send Unity an email prior to a refund - whether it works or not. This is a terrible way to handle business.

Unity Free Assets

Props to the active devs and all - but there are plenty inactive developers with broken or outdated assets still on the store - and now missing altogether. These developers often do not respond or might not want to give money back for whatever reason. Unity doesn't really care either way.

Unity Asset Store Download Location

I have tried for months to contact some devs so I could get a refund only to have Unity's six month policy pass.

Assets are being treated improperly.

If I bought a pair of Sony headphones at Best Buy, found out they were broken, I wouldn't have to go to Sony for a refund. I would go to Best Buy. Assets should be treated no differently.

I can only guess this policy was implemented to protect against downloading an asset, exporting it for later, and then spamming refunds - but any developer worth their weight would contact an Asset's creator first if they were having problems. Additionally making backups like I was told in the support e-mail only encourages Torrenting and NOT buying an asset.

That being said...

TLDR: It should not be up to a customer to convince it's maker the product is not working or not what they want (within a reasonable amount of time), AND if an asset gets flat-out removed a full refund should offered. I'm out hundreds of dollars over here.