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DannyPleasant's avatar
DannyPleasant
New Novice
7 months ago

Can't launch the game "Service initialization failed"

I just got the base game earlier this week and I haven't been able to launch it. When I press the play bouton in the launcher, I get the black windowed screen and the error "Unable to start game. Service initialization failed". 

I know a lot of people have gotten this problem and posted about it, but I think I already tried everything and nothing works.

What I've tried:

  • Run as admin.
  • Repair the game from the EA app.
  • Start in window mode.
  • Move the Sims 3 documents folder so the game creates a new one.
  • Activate .NET 3.5
  • Install DirectX 9.
  • Uninstall, clear registry, and reinstall.
  • Defragment my unit.
  • Delete temporary files
  • Execute launcher with one CPU.
  • Lazy Duchess'   Intel Alder Lake Patch
crashing
pc
technical issues

21 Replies

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  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    7 months ago

    DannyPleasant  The service initialization error is typically related to missing or broken registry entries.  It doesn't have anything to do with .NET Framework 3.5 or the Alder Lake issue, so you can put aside those ideas (not that they were bad ideas, just not worth spending any more time pursuing).  What kind of install is this?  I'd like to compare your actual registry entries with what you should have, but they look different for each type of install.  And let me know whether you ever installed any expansion or stuff packs that you later removed.

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