Your system information

• Steam client version: 1759461205 (October 2025)
• SteamCMD version: 1759461699 (October 2025)
• Distribution: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS (Ubuntu 22.04 base)
• Opted into Steam client beta?: No
• Have you checked for system updates?: Yes – confirmed latest Pop!_OS version installed
• Steam Logs: (available upon request)
• GPU: NVIDIA Corporation GP106 [GeForce GTX 1060 3GB]
• Region: EU (Frankfurt)

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
When downloading the Stellaris Workshop mod “Ethics and Civics Classic” (Workshop ID 1100284147) using either the Steam client or SteamCMD, Steam delivers an outdated depot (“Pirate Update”) instead of the current “Machine Spirit Update” version shown on the Workshop page. This has been persistent since 12. October for me.

Expected:
SteamCMD and Steam client should download the latest depot (“Machine Spirit Update”) whose descriptor reads:

name="Ethics and Civics Classic (Machine Spirit Update)"

Actual:
The downloaded mod contains:

name="Ethics and Civics Classic (Pirate Update)"

even after clearing the Steam download cache, removing local mod and workshop files, and redownloading via both Steam client and SteamCMD.

This indicates that Steam’s Workshop service is still serving an outdated depot version for this item. The Workshop page metadata and description list the correct, updated version, but the content downloaded is inconsistent.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Run Steam client or SteamCMD on Linux (Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS).
2. In Steam client: subscribe to the mod.
   In SteamCMD:
   login anonymous
   workshop_download_item 281990 1100284147 validate
3. Open the downloaded file: steamapps/workshop/content/281990/1100284147/descriptor.mod
4. Observe that it lists “Pirate Update” instead of “Machine Spirit Update”.

Analysis

• Issue persists after:
  • Clearing the Steam client download cache.
  • Deleting local workshop content.
  • Retrying downloads through both Steam client and SteamCMD.
  • Changing Steam download regions multiple times (Frankfurt → US New York → Japan).
• The Workshop metadata and file timestamps show the update was published around October 11 2025, but some users still receive files from an older depot, while others obtain the correct ones.
• This behavior appears consistent with a possible CDN or depot propagation delay, where some content-delivery nodes may still be serving an older depot version.