The Sims 3 - Not Opening on Steam

cayxo14  Thanks for listing your processor, which makes the problem obvious:  This is the old Alder Lake issue that is now fixed in the EA App but not in Steam.  Please try one of the workarounds in the accepted solution of this master thread:

Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU | EA Forums - 8265525

Apply the workaround of your choice to TS3W.exe, with the W.

Thank you! Dumb question. Do I need to download the EA App and repurchase the game there? I am just a bit confused. 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1131162350

you can follow this steam guide to be able to use sims 3 on steam ^


OR 

 you can install ea app but you need to redeem the keys steam has giving you by " right clicking sim 3 in the library on steam" then pressing manage >cdkeys . to redeem the keys on ea app you'll need to click your profile picture then click redeem . then you'll have sims 3 on steam  & ea app

cayxo14  You don't need to use the EA App at all.  The workarounds fix the Steam version of the game without any other special steps.

If you want to register your Steam product codes, called CD Keys, you can, but I would suggest using the old Sims 3 site instead:

https://www.thesims3.com/home.html

Registering doesn't mean you need to play through the EA App.  It does allow you to use the Sims 3 Store, including buying other standalone worlds, and you can get Riverview for free.

Yendia  That guide is excessive and unnecessary in multiple ways.  To get Sims 3 running, players really only need to perform one or two steps: possibly the Alder Lake issue, and limiting in-game framerates.  Everything else in the guide should be considered to be somewhere between "strongly recommended but not required" to "totally optional."

puzzlezaddictI tried downloading the patcher and it is still not working. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I cannot get the .exe file location to pop up properly. 

I see the CD keys, but I am confused on where to enter them on the old Sims 3 site. By entering them on the site, will that help launch the game? 

The Alder Lake Issue I am not completely understanding nor is the file working. Sigh

cayxo14  The location of TS3W.exe is here by default in a Steam install:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin

If you've moved your Steam library elsewhere, look there of course; the last part of the path will be the same regardless.

Another user put together a video showing the Task Manager workaround and possibly some other details (I haven't watched it in a while), and posted it in the thread.  You can find it here:

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

For the CD Keys, go to the site, sign in with your EA account, scroll to the bottom of the page, click Register a Game, and you'll get a field that accepts 20-character codes like you received from Steam.  If the site doesn't let you register without a code, use the base game code, then add the others afterwards.