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The shipping log

Two timelines decide what this tool can do on any given day: what the maintainers shipped, and what Valve changed under everyone's feet. Most changelogs only track the first. Both live here — releases straight from the GitHub API, policy events I curate by hand as I run into them. I keep this page because I got burned by the second track more than once.

auto-updating| tool track + steam track

01Tool releases

Snapshot baked into this page — if your browser can reach the GitHub API, the list below refreshes itself with the latest releases.

DepotDownloader 3.4.0

2025-05-09

Added support for zstd-compressed chunks — keeping pace with Steam's own CDN compression rollout.

DepotDownloader 3.3.0

2025-05-04

Removed interactive beta-password prompts, added the -no-mobile option and improved authentication messaging.

DepotDownloader 3.2.0

2025-04-21

Support for the new private beta branches; warns about unused arguments.

DepotDownloader 3.1.0

2025-03-24

Simplified content-server selection, improved parallel downloading, fixed manifest retrieval for FreeToDownload apps.

DepotDownloader 3.0.0

2025-01-04

Manifests now stored in Steam's own format; Lancache support arrives via -use-lancache.

DepotDownloader 2.7.4

2024-11-14

Updated to .NET 9, added -all-archs, enabled FreeToDownload app support.

Full notes for every version, including the long tail back to 2012, live on the releases page. Practical advice repeated from the network troubleshooting page: when downloads break suddenly and collectively, updating to the latest release is the first move — several of the entries above exist precisely because Steam changed something on its side.

02The Steam-side track

The releases above are half the story. These are the platform changes that altered what any tool can download — the track that feeds the live status page:

  • JUNE 2021 Manifest request codes appear in Steam client betas — the gate is built, not yet enforced. SteamDB's analysis calls the implications immediately.
  • MAY 2022 Enforcement switches on: every manifest download now requires a code. Old manifests still pass for most games — the gate stands open.
  • NOV 2024 – JAN 2025 Steam's CDN begins rolling out zstd-compressed chunks; tools that don't speak it start failing on affected depots until DepotDownloader 3.4.0 lands support.
  • JANUARY 2025 The gate closes on deep history: a coordinated wave of 401s on old manifests across many games. The single biggest capability change in the tool's lifetime, and it happened entirely server-side.
  • APRIL 2025 Continued tightening — manifests that worked weeks earlier go dark; per-account inconsistency becomes the documented norm.
  • MID-2026 Status quo holds: branches and recent manifests reliable, deep history mostly gated, no policy statement from Valve. The status banner moves first if that changes.

The deeper context for every entry on this track is in the manifests deep dive; what to do when one of these events bites you is the 401 diagnostic. The January 2025 wave is the one that got me — manifests I'd pulled fine the week before started throwing 401s, and it took me a while to accept it was server-side and not something I'd broken.

the live scoreboardCan you still download old versions? →