Yes, we’ve experienced something similar.
For some of our 3rd party content we have noticed that when the SCORM training materials are saved in the default Theater Mode, the course playback often freezes and does not play correctly. So when we are creating these courses, we need to make sure that the training material is added and put into the Stand-alone Mode(Best Compatibility).
However, if we then add the SCORM file to the Central Repository, the View Mode defaults back to the Theater Mode. This also happens if we make any changes to the file. (We often do not pre-load SCORM files to the Central Repository; rather we add them to the CR from the course. However, we have noticed that if we load SCORM files into the CR, then add them to a course, they default to Theater Mode as well.)
The bottom line is: whether we are loading a new SCORM from this vendor or if we ever make any changes to a course with files from this vendor, we always go back to the training material and make sure that it is set to Stand-alone mode (Best Compatibility).