UABEA
UABEA is a free reader and writer for Unity Asset Bundles and Serialized Files, available for Windows and Linux.
What UABEA is
UABEA is a free reader and writer for Unity Asset Bundles and Serialized Files, available for Windows and Linux. Its maker positions it as a modding and research tool rather than an asset extraction tool. Supported asset types include textures, TextAssets, fonts, audio, and MonoBehaviours; it also supports batch extraction and archive repacking. Addressables bundles can be handled, but editing them requires clearing CRC checks with a CRC cleaning tool. The newer UABEANext version adds docking and multi-bundle opening, though it remains a work in progress. The latest listed release requires .NET Runtime 6.0. Windows also requires the Visual C++ Redistributable, while Linux requires glibc 2.29 or later; users of distributions such as musl need to compile UABEA themselves. Font import and export supports TTF and OTF, but not font atlases. Switch textures can be edited when swizzled, but newly added textures are not swizzled automatically. The repository identifies UABEA as MIT licensed.
Good
- Free and MIT licensed.
- Supports Unity Asset Bundles and Serialized Files.
- Handles textures, fonts, audio, and MonoBehaviours.
- Supports batch extraction and archive repacking.
- Available for Windows and Linux.
Watch out
- Requires .NET Runtime 6.0.
- Windows also requires the Visual C++ Redistributable.
- Linux requires glibc 2.29 or later.
- UABEANext is still a work in progress.
Who it suits
UABEA suits people working with Unity game files for modding or research on Windows or Linux. Linux users should check the glibc requirement, and Addressables editing requires an additional CRC-cleaning step.
Verdict
UABEA provides a range of Unity file editing capabilities for modding and research. Check its runtime requirements and format-specific limits, especially for Addressables and font atlases.
Plans and prices
From UABEA's own pricing page, checked 19 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| UABEA | Free | cross-platform Asset Bundle and Serialized File reader/writer · modding and research focus |
The facts
Each one read from UABEA's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Addressables
- Editing Unity Addressables bundles requires clearing CRC checks with the project’s separate CRC-cleaning tool.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Community support
- The project’s support channel is its GitHub issue and discussion system, where users seek help with formats, imports and modding workflows.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Dependencies
- Listed libraries include Avalonia, AssetsTools.NET, Cpp2IL, Mono.Cecil, AssetRipper.TextureDecoder, ImageSharp and Fsb5Sharp.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Developer API
- The project publishes source code and a .NET solution, but its public pages do not document a separate web API or SDK.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- User documentation is primarily the README, release notes, GitHub issues and discussions rather than a dedicated help center.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Editing limitation
- The release notes say Switch textures can be edited when swizzled, but newly added textures are not swizzled automatically.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Extraction positioning
- The maintainer recommends AssetRipper or AssetStudio when the goal is only asset extraction.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Independent use: Baldi’s Basics
- An itch.io tutorial describes opening shared asset files, exporting PNG textures, editing them and importing the results with UABEA.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Independent use: Pokémon modding
- A Whack a Hack tutorial uses UABEA to extract and replace Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl textures and add a new type.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Independent use: successful texture replacement
- A Reddit user reports that UABEA imported edited sprites successfully and loaded faster than AssetStudio in that workflow.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Independent use: texture editing
- A Steam Darkwood guide uses UABEA to inspect MonoBehaviours and GameObjects, change values and save modified resource files.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Independent use: texture workflow
- A Steam Wrestling Empire tutorial documents exporting textures as PNG, editing them externally and importing them through the texture plugin.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Intended use
- The maker describes UABEA as a modding and research tool rather than an asset extraction tool.checked 3 Oct 2026
- License
- The project is released under the MIT license.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: audio import
- A maintainer issue discussion explains that audio import is difficult because encoding support and external resource-file management are unresolved.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: external resS handling
- UABEA cannot open resS files directly, and mesh data may require updating the referenced resS path for the mesh to appear.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: mesh export quality
- A GitHub discussion says UABEA and UABE have not been strong asset-export tools and recommends AssetRipper or an AssetStudio fork for meshes.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: mesh import complexity
- The maintainer says mesh import generally requires building a Unity project with the same engine version and copying mesh dumps plus possible resS data.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: missing video feature
- An open issue requests restoration of VideoClip import and export, indicating that capability is missing or unavailable.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: newer Unity compatibility
- Open issues report failed MonoBehaviour deserialization and compatibility problems with newer Unity 6000 and other recent versions.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: raw mesh corruption
- A user reports that importing raw mesh data caused corruption or non-working meshes, while textures worked.checked 19 Oct 2026
- Limit: requested batch tools
- Open issues request batch import/export and command-line raw-import support.checked 19 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Linux download
- The project links to Linux nightly builds for both UABEA and UABEANext.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Linux limitation
- Users on non-glibc distributions such as musl must compile UABEA themselves.checked 19 Oct 2026
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