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Re: Can't register game on TheSims3.com - Steam-issued code apparently already used

@RynTea When did you buy the game from Steam? People don't get a serial code anymore due to a loophole with EA Play that needed to be closed, so if you bought the game in the last year or so, you wouldn't have one either. Point is, if you look at the registry entry for Sims 3, do you see a 20-character code, or just some field that says "null" or similar?

From your wording, I can't tell whether you do have a code and it's already been used, or you don't have a proper code and the "already been used" is just the EA support rep's interpretation of the error code you're seeing. Normally, when you enter a code that's already been used, the error message says exactly that.

What you can do, if you bought the game too recently to have received a code, is contact EA customer support and ask that the game be added to your Origin account. You'll need to provide proof of purchase and ownership: screenshots of the email receipt and your Steam library with your username and Sims 3 showing should do it.

https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/

If you don't get anywhere with EA support this time around, please let me know when you bought the game and whether you have something resembling an actual code. You don't need to post the code; just confirm it's 20 characters and appears in the correct portion of the registry.

2 Replies

RyannT02
Seasoned Newcomer
4 years ago
Hi @puzzlezaddict, thanks for your response.
I bought the game on the 6th of April this year, in a bundle with the Pets expansion, and later bought the other expansions separately. The expansions that I bought later, I can view in Steam by right-clicking Sims 3 -> Manage -> CD Keys, and they match what's in the registry, but this method doesn't show the codes for the base game and Pets, so I had to go to the registry to find them.
Speaking of, the registry has 20-character codes for the base game and all expansions that I own, although the code for the base game is identical to the one for Island Paradise, which is... interesting.
I do indeed have a code that I found in the registry. The EA support rep asked for the code and looked into it, and told me that my code had already been used.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago
@RynTea Sorry for the late reply. Steam doesn't actually provide a separate base game code; perhaps the Island Paradise code is present in the registry so that the game "thinks" it has a code present at all. Either way, if you used the code to register IP, that's why it reads as used. The codes are all unique, not just to Sims 3 but to all EA games, as in, there wouldn't be a product code for Battlefield or whatever that was identical to a Sims 3 code. So once a code is registered, it will always read as used in the EA database.

The point is, if you want to register your base game, you'll need to contact EA customer support (again, sorry) ask that it be added to your account. You may have better luck with Twitter support: I've heard good things, although I don't know whether the usual support reps will be present tomorrow since it's the day before Thanksgiving. Whoever you contact, proof of purchase from Steam should be enough to convince the support rep to add the game to your EA account.