Sims 3 Wont Open After Hitting Play

enei7eb5nb9w  Please provide a dxdiag.  Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop.  From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

I have the dxdiag but what exactly are we looking for?

enei7eb5nb9w  I would like to read it to look for various reasons the game might not open.  The most interesting part is the Windows Error Reports section at the end, but most of the other info could be relevant in the right circumstances.  So please attach the dxdiag and I'll take a look.

Here you go

enei7eb5nb9w  You definitely need(ed) the Alder Lake patch or another intervention, but your dxdiag doesn't list any Sims 3-related errors.  That means the game is likely being blocked from opening rather than crashing.  So as a test of a number of possible causes at once, please try playing in a new admin Windows account.  Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address.  You'll be able to open Steam and try to launch Sims 3 without reinstalling anything.

If this works, quit the game, restart your computer, and try again, to make sure the game still opens.  Let me know the results regardless, and we can go from there.  The game working in the new account (more than the one time) means the issue is limited to your main account, and either way, we know where to look next.

If you still can't open Sims 3, please look for new errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.  Today is on the right.

Look for an error that happened at exactly the time of your most recent attempt to open the game.  If you find one, double-click it to see more details, then copy that info and paste it into a reply here.  If you don't see a new error, check back in an hour or so—the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away.

I still dont understand the first option, but when I open Sims 3, it gives me the launcher. Im not logged on.

From Windows key R: 

Source
Sims 3

Summary
Stopped working

Date
‎2/‎28/‎2025 5:33 PM

Status
Report sent

Description
Faulting Application Path:    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
Application Name:    TS3W.exe
Application Version:    0.0.0.32
Application Timestamp:    52dec247
Fault Module Name:    TS3W.exe
Fault Module Version:    0.0.0.32
Fault Module Timestamp:    52dec247
Exception Code:    c0000094
Exception Offset:    00213702
OS Version:    10.0.26100.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Information 1:    a89c
Additional Information 2:    a89cbad0343d4637e5843732a061706b
Additional Information 3:    4597
Additional Information 4:    4597a0240f9ba3e833a89f5720255dba

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID:    cc236a4c51da69e4fde333e1694a5eee (2153622090040368878)

enei7eb5nb9w  This is the Alder Lake issue, so please try the Task Manager workaround described here:

Re: Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU | EA Forums - 8265882

Apply it to TS3W.exe, with the W.

If it works, you can try the Alder Lake patch again, also applied to TS3W.exe.  But it would be better to confirm that the game is working before applying the patch, in case there's another issue that needs to be addressed.  The patch works for most people but can occasionally break something.

I followed the instructions for Alder Lake, a few min after hitting play, it actually opened. I accidentally quit before I could finish the instructions and now it wont open. Im not seeing TS3W.exe and my Sims3Launcher.exe shows as Sims3LauncherW.exe.

Several weeks ago I actually bought Sims 3 on the EA app, it didnt have any of my DLC from steam, but I could play it. The problem was it wouldnt let me save the game, so any time I saved, Id have to save as a new save. I cant for the life of me delete those saves either.  I uninstalled it so I could play the steam version, which still wont open. When it did open that one time, the saved games were on there (from the EA app), I still couldnt delete them. What the heck is going on? I have several hundred hours in this game and never had an issue on my past laptops.

enei7eb5nb9w  TS3W has to be there if you've launched the game, unless your antivirus is blocking it.  Check your AV for any Sims 3-related actions, and restore the .exe if necessary.  You can restore it by repairing the game in Steam as well (Sims 3 > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of the game files), but if your AV is blocking the .exe, this will happen again.

When you say you can't delete your saves, do you mean you get an error, or you delete them but they come back, or what?  Saves are stored in the same location in all types of Sims 3 installs, so it's no surprise you'd see them again.

If you've located the saves but can't get rid of them, right-click one and select Properties > General, then list the Location.  This could be OneDrive-related or another antivirus problem.  Either one could also explain why you had to keep creating new saves.