Sims 3: Steam vs EA app

I can only share my experience with Steam since I’ve never had to use the EA App.

One of the biggest pros about playing on Steam is that the game goes on sale semi-often, especially during summer and the Christmas period. It was during the latter that I managed to get the TS3 base game with all expansion and stuff packs (minus Sweet Treats) for just over 100 SGD- that’s approximately 74 USD.

The game isn’t on sale at the time of this post, but Steam has got a bundle deal going for TS3, where you can buy all EPs and SPs (except Sweet Treats) for 245 SGD (about 180 USD). That’s 52% less than what you’d pay if you bought them all individually. Add on the base game and the total price comes to 270 SGD (just under 200 USD).

Overall, my experience with Steam has been extremely smooth. I’ve never needed to worry about being locked out of my game, or losing it and needing to repurchase it. Mods and CC are installed in the exact same way as with the Origin/EA App versions, so there’s no need to worry about any changes there.

TL;DR come to the Steam side, we have cookies.

"TinySpaceFox;c-18309339" wrote:


Overall, my experience with Steam has been extremely smooth. I’ve never needed to worry about being locked out of my game, or losing it and needing to repurchase it. Mods and CC are installed in the exact same way as with the Origin/EA App versions, so there’s no need to worry about any changes there.

I originally purchased Sims 3 from Steam and got confused how to use the app. I transferred my purchases to the EA app. I just tried to use Steam again and got nervous when I saw a Sims 3 folder pop up under EA in Documents. I though that EA had overriden my installation choice and did an incomplete install. Not all my worlds were showing up as options. I uninstalled the game and went back to EA. Since then, I have been instructed that it is normal for Steam games to go into folders according to the game creators. But I still am confused about how to add worlds. I did not have the tab that allowed me to check or uncheck worlds.

"Katofhyrule12;c-18309415" wrote:

"TinySpaceFox;c-18309339" wrote:


Overall, my experience with Steam has been extremely smooth. I’ve never needed to worry about being locked out of my game, or losing it and needing to repurchase it. Mods and CC are installed in the exact same way as with the Origin/EA App versions, so there’s no need to worry about any changes there.

I originally purchased Sims 3 from Steam and got confused how to use the app. I transferred my purchases to the EA app. I just tried to use Steam again and got nervous when I saw a Sims 3 folder pop up under EA in Documents. I though that EA had overriden my installation choice and did an incomplete install. Not all my worlds were showing up as options. I uninstalled the game and went back to EA. Since then, I have been instructed that it is normal for Steam games to go into folders according to the game creators. But I still am confused about how to add worlds. I did not have the tab that allowed me to check or uncheck worlds.

If you bought the worlds from the Sims 3 store then you need to install them through the launcher just like you install other store content. I have no experience with Steam. I assume you still get the launcher with the base game.

"Katofhyrule12;c-18309415" wrote:
But I still am confused about how to add worlds. I did not have the tab that allowed me to check or uncheck worlds.

In addition to what Karritz said, the worlds (and any other store content you’ve purchased) are linked to your Store account, not your Steam account. Whether you’re using Steam or the EA App, you should be able to re-download them by logging in to your Store account via your browser and accessing your purchase history.

"Karritz;c-18309738" wrote:

If you bought the worlds from the Sims 3 store then you need to install them through the launcher just like you install other store content. I have no experience with Steam. I assume you still get the launcher with the base game.

"TinySpaceFox;c-18309749" wrote:


In addition to what Karritz said, the worlds (and any other store content you’ve purchased) are linked to your Store account, not your Steam account. Whether you’re using Steam or the EA App, you should be able to re-download them by logging in to your Store account via your browser and accessing your purchase history.

I put the Store content in the downloads folder in the EA folder in Documents. Yes, I have the Launcher, but not the worlds tab in Launcher. Maybe I need to download them from the store instead of copying and pasting the files into the downloads folder?