Launcher Not Working

[Deklitch]

You are showing remarkable restraint, @Rhoxi , well done and thank you for sharing with us.

But at least your a bit closer. Who knows, it may be successfully all added for you by the time the next Sims 4 pack is released.

[Rhoxi]

Now, EA appears to be just passing me from person to person. 

    Thank you for contacting EA Help.
This is a follow up email regarding the case you created today for Sims 3 Ambitions pack still missing. I have gone through your account multiple times and they expansion pack has been re-added and I can see them on origin on our end. There seems to be an issue with Sims 3 launcher and origin.

What we can do here is uninstall the Sims 3 launcher, Sims 3 and all it's expansion packs.
Then reinstall origin and download the sims 3 and expansion packs using origin. Once you do that try and launch the game via that and the expansion should be visible. Make sure you delete the completely from control panel> programs and features. Do not delete the electronic arts folder in Documents

For any query with EA games, you can always contact us or check our knowledge base at help.ea.com for self-help options and Answers.ea.com for in-game queries.


Have a great day ahead!
Thanks again for contacting EA Help.


Gurman Reen



Hey Gurman,

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Origin client and the Sims 3 games, but no luck. I also tried downloading everything and trying it out on my fiance's PC, but the issue is still the same. Once again, this appears to be an issue with the account, rather than with our hardware. A Kevin C. from account services was able to fix this same issue regarding Late Night the other day, but unfortunately he did not seem to realize that the issue was happening with both Late Night and Ambitions, so he didn't fix Ambitions. He said he tried some things out and was able to fix it, but unfortunately he didn't explain to me what exactly it was that managed to do the trick.

While the Origin client, as well as my Sims 3 page online, says I have the Ambitions expansion, the Sims 3 launcher and game is not recognizing me as having the expansion. Not sure how much of my case you have read over, but online people are saying it has to do with buggy registration codes that the game mistakenly thinks are pirated. Have you tried issuing a new registration code?

Thanks for your help on this!


    Thank you for contacting EA Help. My name is Pradeep and I will be assisting you with The Sims 3 issue today.

I see that you are facing the sims 3 game launch issue. I realize its indeed annoying as you have tried many steps. I'll certainly help you with the best possible information.

Please access documents>>EA>>The Sims 3. Please rename The Sims 3 folder to The Sims 4 old. Once done, please launch the game, once the game gets launched, please exit the game.

Now, as you have renamed The Sims 3 folder to old. Also, as you have launched the game and exited it. It creates a new The Sims 3 folder.

Now please access The Sims 3 old folder and copy only the SAVES folder. Once copied. Please back out and open The Sims 3 (New Folder). Please use the paste option to paste everything which were copied from The Sims 3 old folder.

If it ask you to overwrite/ merge, please select overwrite/ merge. Once the files/ folders has been copied, please launch the game and play!

Regarding the mods which might be corrupted/ conflicting, please access The Sims 3 old folder and copy the mods folder from there and paste it in The Sims 3 (New folder). If the game doesn't get launched after the MODS folder was pasted. Please follow this article and you will see the steps to remove the conflicting mods from the game.

http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=23495.0

Before visiting the link, please go through this 3rd party unauthorized website links Disclaimer:

"EA does not control, operate, or provide support for the content of these pages or publications or other, similar resources. EA does not monitor the content of these pages and is not responsible for the accuracy, relevance, or thoroughness of the information presented. Please be aware when interacting with others online and follow best practices for online safety."

This is to summarize, we have shared the steps regarding the sims 3 game launch issue.

Should you have any further questions regarding this or any other issues, please do not hesitate to let us know. You can also find answers to common questions on EA Help at http://help.ea.com, or ask our community experts by visiting Answer HQ at http://answers.ea.com.

Thanks again for contacting EA Help. Have a great day!


Hey Pradeep,

It seems that you are not up to date with my current situation. Understandably, as this has been a lengthy case, which has been ongoing for over four weeks now. My current problem is that, while Origins thinks I own the Ambitions expansion pack, the Sims 3 launcher and game does not. From what users online who have had this issue say, the problem is that Origins mistakenly believes that the license is pirated. I have tried logging onto my account from both my own and my fiance's PC, and the issue persists. This indicates that the problem is with the account or registration code, and not the hardware. Can you please try deleting the Ambitions expansion pack, and issuing a new license of the game with a new registration code?

Many thanks,

[Rhoxi]

After not hearing anything since last weekend, I took a look at my ticket online and --- what do you know, the ticket was closed and no further emails after the one where the guy fixed Late Night were posted.

I opened a new ticket with the regular EA help people AND THEY FIXED IT.  I finally got a hold of someone who really listened and didn't make me uninstall and reinstall, clear caches, etc etc etc a thousand times. I can finally start up an Immortal Dynasty! I'm just disappointed that the little rate your experience box didn't pop up so I could leave them a great review.  I left one elsewhere on EA's website, but I'm not sure that will get them the same credit.

[Rhoxi]

Aaaaand what would you know it. Now my store content is bugged out. Somewhere along the way, one of the account specialists uninstalled all my store content - aaaand some how bugged it out. Much of my store content (which is IN my billing history), says that I don't own it. For example, in my billing history page, it says I need to spend sims points to get it - even though it's in my billing history. If I go to the content directly, it recognizes I own it (most of the time) and will let me download and install it. However, the content is not accessible in game. When I relaunch the launcher, the content is gone. From what I can tell, this issue is effecting ALL store content, even the content that is not showing up as buggy on my purchase history? I assume this is more EA's anti-piracy protection mistakenly thinks content is pirated when it is not issue. Good grief! Just when I finally thought everything was fixed.

[MrsFlynn]

Something is still off with your account. I'm afraid you'll have to contact EA to see if they'll look into it for you, as we can't help with account issues.

[Rhoxi]

Yeah, for the most part, I'm just keeping people updated.

One question I do have: I did a complete uninstall and reinstall of the Origin launcher and all the Sims 3 games, after uninstalling all of my downloads. One download (of Samura Dojo) was in there twice and would not delete. Even when I reinstalled everything, it's still there! Is there an extra cache I need to clear - does a complete uninstall and reinstall not clear all caches?

Edit: Oh right, that's under Documents, not the ProgramFilesx86. Okay, gonna try clearing all of that too.