@sarapanman I've merged your post with the master thread on this issue.
Sims 4 doesn't run in Catalina because Catalina is 64-bit only, as in, it won't run any 32-bit apps. While TS4 has always been 64-bit in macOS, the ActivationUI is 32-bit, and if that doesn't run, the game doesn't run either.
EA will fix this sooner or later, but in the meantime, there's no way around the problem, other than to play on a system running an earlier operating system.
This issue is now fixed in patch 1.54.52.
Happy Simming Catalina users 🙂
Edit - some users are reporting an error message stating that the game is already running When trying to launch the game. If you are experiencing this please read @dzm06‘s excellent instructions here for removing the file causing the issue - https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/FIXED-Sims-4-does-not-work-in-macOS-Catalina/m-p/8277531#M20684 -
Downloading the update now! If it works, I'll go ahead and update my iMac back to Catalina. The Gold Master (GM) Developer Beta was released today, which is typically the same build as the official public release (rumored to be coming tomorrow). I'll update this post if I have any issues, but I'm glad to hear this seems to have been resolved before the public release.
UPDATE: I'm receiving a brand new error now:
Unable to start:
The Sims™ 4 is already running.
[ed35e0ea:29f00e76:00000000:18a1dd51]
Might be unrelated, but my game is definitely not already running. I'll try a restart and see what happens. I've already tried closing Origin and relaunching it.
UPDATE 2: The restart didn't fix the issue. I'm on the Gold Master of macOS Catalina (Beta 11). I do have Origin installed on two Macs, but it is not currently running on the other so I don't know what's causing this issue. I may need to try uninstalling Origin and TS4 and reinstalling them, but I'll start with signing out and signing back in to Origin on only one of my computers to see what's going on.
Is that an Origin error you see or an OS error?
Edit: Crin has blogged about this: https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2015/08/game-already-running/ It seems it's related to directory permissions. I wonder if Catalina's privacy changes have locked access to a folder that The Sims 4 requires.
It does look to be a macOS window that's popping up. I ran through Origin's "Repair" option to see if that would help, but it didn't. I may just need to do a clean install.
It could also have something to do with my Documents folder being managed via iCloud (though I have all the files downloaded onto my hard drive - they aren't being accessed via the cloud). It syncs across both my Macs and allows me to pick up on my saves from either device. I've never had an issue doing that in prior versions of macOS, but Catalina may have changed some elements of how that works.
Which beta build are you running? I'm running the pre-GM one and the game is loading fine.
I've just updated to the Beta 11 (19A582a) and am now seeing the same error that @princezorldo is seeing.
