Any ideas on what could cause Key Listeners to suddenly stop working like this?
Applets run within a web browser, and how that web browser interprets focus can change depending upon the browser (both brand and version - in other words, update your browser and focus can change). This could potentially happen regardless of how many times you call request focus from the applet. If you need to change your code, then I'd again recommend trying key bindings. If not, there are ways to use javascript to try and give the applet focus.