Why does my content update push the wrong assets to live players?

You ran New Build instead of Update a Previous Build. New Build creates a fresh content layout that doesn't match the catalog the live player ships with, so the player can't resolve the new bundle hashes against its embedded catalog.

What's addressables_content_state.bin?

A snapshot of the build at the time you shipped the player. Update a Previous Build reads it to know which bundles to keep on the cache vs. which to revise. Commit it alongside the released binary; you'll need it for every subsequent content patch.

Can I rebuild the .bin if I lost it?

No. Without the original .bin you can't ship a content update to existing installs. You can ship a full app update with a New Build, but cached bundles will be re-downloaded and the catalog churn is large.

Fix: Addressables Content Update Ships Stale Bundles

Quick answer: Addressables → Build → Update a Previous Build, point at the addressables_content_state.bin from your shipped player. Never use New Build for live patches.

You shipped 1.0. You patch a level. You run a fresh build, upload bundles. Live players still load the old level. Their catalog points at hashes that don’t match the new uploads.

The Symptom

New bundle URLs return 404 in player logs. Old assets continue to load from cached catalog. Or assets load but show pre-patch state.

The Fix

Window → Asset Management → Addressables → Groups
Build → Update a Previous Build
  Pick: ServerData/[Platform]/addressables_content_state.bin
        (the .bin saved when 1.0 shipped)

Output:
  Modified bundles get new hashes
  Catalog references updated entries
  Unchanged bundles keep their hash — cached players don't re-download

Upload the new ServerData folder. Players auto-fetch the updated catalog and only re-download changed bundles.

Workflow Rules

Commit addressables_content_state.bin to source control with each shipped player build.
Tag bundles as Cannot Change Post Release for assets that must be embedded in the player.
Run Check for Content Update Restrictions before building; it flags illegal modifications to non-updateable groups.

Verifying

Run a built player against the new catalog. Profile the loads: only modified bundles should be downloaded. Old install + new content = small delta, not full re-download.

“Update a Previous Build. Old .bin in hand. Live players patch cleanly.”

Related Issues

For IL2CPP reflection stripping, see link.xml. For shader variant stripping, see keyword strip.

Save the .bin. Update from it. Patches land.