If you’ve ever stared at an empty Unity scene wondering how you’re going to fill it with actual stuff, you’re not alone. Whether you’re prototyping a new idea, learning game dev, or building something you plan to ship—the hunt for quality free assets can eat up hours you’d rather spend making your game.

Good news: 2026 is an excellent time to be scrounging for free game assets. The community has never been more generous, and there are genuinely professional-quality resources available for nothing more than a download.

Here’s where to find them.

The All-Rounders

These sites cover multiple asset types and should be your first stops.

itch.io

The indie darling of game distribution also happens to be one of the best places to find free assets. Head to itch.io/game-assets/free and you’ll find everything from pixel art character sprites to complete game kits with 3D models, audio, and animations bundled together.

The curation is decent, the community is active, and you can filter by asset type, art style, and licence. Many creators release their work under CC0 (public domain), meaning you can use it commercially without attribution.

Best for: 2D sprites, pixel art, complete game kits, audio packs

OpenGameArt.org

The granddaddy of free game assets. OpenGameArt has been around for over a decade and hosts a massive collection of 2D art, 3D models, music, and sound effects—all under open licences like CC0, CC-BY, or GPL.

The search tools are... functional, let’s say. But the depth of the library makes up for it. You’ll find everything from retro pixel art to orchestral soundtracks.

Best for: Large variety, open-source projects, finding hidden gems

Kenney

If you don’t know Kenney, you’re missing out. This one-person operation has released over 40,000 assets—all CC0, all free, no sign-up required. The art style is clean, colourful, and remarkably consistent across packs, which means you can mix and match assets without your game looking like a ransom note.

The kenney.nl site offers 2D assets, 3D models, UI elements, fonts, and audio. There are also free tools like Asset Forge for creating your own 3D models.

Best for: Consistent art style, rapid prototyping, UI elements

2D Assets

CraftPix

CraftPix.net offers free 2D game assets including tilesets, character sprites, backgrounds, icons, and GUI elements. Their "Game Kits" are particularly useful—complete sets with everything you need for a particular genre or theme.

The freebies are a subset of their paid catalogue, so quality is generally solid. Assets work well with engines like Unity, Godot, and Construct.

Best for: 2D platformers, RPGs, mobile games

Chequered Ink

A smaller studio that releases pixel art assets alongside their commercial games and fonts. You’ll find character sprite packs, inventory icons, platformer tilesets, and UI graphics—all free for commercial use.

Check their free game assets section for regular updates.

Best for: Pixel art, retro-styled games

3D Models

Quaternius

If you’re making a 3D game with a stylised low-poly look, Quaternius is essential. This Argentinian artist has released thousands of models—characters, animals, vehicles, environments, weapons—all under CC0.

The signature "Quaternius style" is instantly recognisable: clean geometry, bright colours, charming animations. Assets come rigged and animated, ready to drop into Unity, Unreal, or Godot.

Best for: Low-poly 3D games, stylised aesthetics, animated characters

Poly Haven

Poly Haven started as HDRI Haven and has grown into a comprehensive library of 3D models, HDRIs, and textures—all CC0. The models tend toward realistic props and environmental pieces rather than stylised game assets, but they’re high quality and instantly usable.

No sign-up required. Just download what you need.

Best for: Realistic 3D assets, environment art, lighting reference

Sketchfab

Sketchfab is primarily a 3D model marketplace, but there’s a substantial collection of free downloads. Filter by "Downloadable" and check the licence for each asset—many are CC0 or CC-BY.

The built-in 3D viewer lets you inspect models before downloading, which saves time.

Best for: Browsing and previewing 3D models, varied styles

Textures and Materials

ambientCG

Formerly CC0Textures, ambientCG offers over 2,000 PBR materials, HDRIs, and 3D models—all completely free under CC0. Materials come with all the maps you need: albedo, normal, roughness, metallic, height, and ambient occlusion.

Assets are available in resolutions up to 8K (or even 16K for some), and Substance Designer source files are available for Patreon supporters.

Best for: PBR textures, realistic materials, HDRIs

CGBookcase

Another solid CC0 texture source. CGBookcase has a smaller library than ambientCG, but the quality is excellent and the site includes tutorials on creating your own PBR textures.

Best for: High-quality PBR textures, learning texture creation

Audio: Music and Sound Effects

Freesound

Freesound.org is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds. With over 600,000 audio samples, it’s massive—though quality and licensing vary by upload. Filter by CC0 if you want no-strings-attached usage.

The search can be finicky, but the depth of the library is unmatched for specific sound effects.

Best for: Specific sound effects, ambient audio, foley

Sonniss GDC Audio Bundles

Every year for GDC, Sonniss releases a free bundle of professional game audio. The archive now contains years’ worth of these bundles—we’re talking gigabytes of royalty-free sound effects you can use commercially with no attribution required.

These aren’t amateur recordings. They’re from professional sound libraries, and they’re genuinely excellent.

Best for: High-quality sound effects, bulk downloads

Pixabay

Yes, the stock photo site. Pixabay also has a growing library of royalty-free sound effects and music. Everything is CC0-equivalent, so you can use it commercially without attribution.

The search and filtering are better than most audio sites.

Best for: Quick sound effect searches, background music

A Note on Licences

Before you ship anything, double-check the licence on every asset you use. The main ones you’ll encounter:

• CC0 / Public Domain: Use however you want. No attribution required. Commercial use allowed.
• CC-BY: Free to use, but you must credit the creator.
• CC-BY-SA: Free to use with attribution, and derivative works must use the same licence.
• GPL/LGPL: Common for code; can have implications for your project if not careful.

When in doubt, read the licence. It takes 30 seconds and can save you headaches later.

Managing the Chaos

Here’s the thing about free assets: you’ll download more than you use. Way more. That sprite pack catches your eye, then a tileset, then some sound effects, then a character pack "just in case"—and suddenly you’ve got thousands of files scattered across your downloads folder, external drives, and cloud storage.

Finding that one animation you remember downloading six months ago becomes an archaeological expedition.

This is exactly why we built AssetHoard. It’s a local-first asset manager that lets you organise, preview, and search all your game assets in one place—regardless of where they came from or what format they’re in. 3D models with animation playback, Aseprite files, audio, Unity packages, materials... all searchable and previewable without leaving the app.

No subscription. Your files stay on your machine. Just a way to finally make sense of that ever-growing pile of free assets.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need to spend money to make a good-looking game. The resources above represent thousands of hours of work that creators have generously made available to the community—often under licences that let you use them commercially without restriction.

The challenge isn’t finding free assets. It’s finding the right assets, keeping them organised, and actually using them before you forget they exist.

Now stop reading and go make something.

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The Asset Hoard Team