Looking at the filament part that was in the extruder and in the nozzle might help identify an issue or exclude some other possible issues. Also, looking at hotend and extruder and motherboard might be usefull here.
Do steppers need to be tuned over time?
No, but its worth to check at this point. Stepper drivers can die, overheat, cable can be damaged, motor can be damaged, overheat… If stepper was tuned to barely push the filament and something added extra resustance (friction) it might explain why issue started. If driver is overheating you can probably just add a small cooling fan or even a heat sink. Why I go in detail here? Because if something happens every time after about the same amount of time, it sounds like overheating issue, especially stepper driver, but I might be wrong. If filament was well grinded by extruder teeth, the issue is probably somewhere after extruder
Bonus question: did you check filament diameter and how consistent it is?