What is the recommended or mandatory way to use 3rd party assets in your game?

Questions & Answers
1

I have seen answers to some of these questions scattered around forums but I need the big picture regarding using 3rd party assets in my game, so I accumulated all my questions in one post.

Suppose I’ve downloaded a free/paid asset from the asset store, added it to my game, and now I want to publish my game.

  1. Is it common to credit the creator? Is it mandatory?
  2. Is it common to ask permission from the creator to use his asset? Is it mandatory?
  3. When crediting the creator, do you use his name as appears in the asset store? Do you use his real name?
  4. Do you add the name of the asset you used to the credits section or just the creator’s name?
  5. Do you ask permission to add a creator’s name to your credits list?
  6. What to do in case the creator doesn’t have contact information available in the asset store?
3

Actually you have to be careful when mentioning the asset names / author names in your game. Giving credit is of course nice but some do not want their name to be used in third party products.

To sum up:

  • No you don’t have to credit the author (unless he has some custom terms attached to the asset).
  • Assets aquired through the AssetStore generally fall under the AssetStore EULA. When you aquire an asset from the store you get a perpetual license to use that asset in your games / products
  • Many companies specifically forbid to use their company name / product name to advertise your own product. If you want to credit an author it’s best to ask for permissions to do so. That means not crediting won’t get you in trouble as it’s not required by the EULA (again some assets may have additional terms attached). Crediting or using the authors name / asset name / product name without permission can get you in trouble.

So my advise is, have a close look at the asset description in the store. If it doesn’t have any additional terms, just use the asset without crediting. If you want to credit the author you should ask for permission.

2

@DavisionByZero

This answer in the link explains it better than I could:
Link I mentioned
I know it doesnt answer all your questions but I figured if you do not have to credit them at all it kind of nullifies the rest of the questions.