Error "NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object" is present and Asset Bundle is not loaded when using a relative path in a Windows Standalone Player

6.5.X

As Designed

Thank you for reporting a bug to Unity. After reviewing the behavior, we've confirmed it aligns with the current design and intended use of the feature. We understand this may differ from your expectations or workflow. This issue is not caused by a Unity bug. The project’s OnPostprocessBuild script copies AssetBundles to the build root using Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), which is not guaranteed to return the project directory. In Unity 6 and higher, the Player’s LocalFileSystem root resolves to the <BuildName>_Data folder, so bundles must be placed inside this directory to load correctly. Because the bundles are copied to the wrong location, the Player cannot locate them and a NullReferenceException occurs. Updating the post‑build script to derive the data folder path from report.summary.outputPath resolves the problem. For reference on how Player data paths are structured, see Unity’s documentation for Application.dataPath: https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Application-dataPath.html