Hi everyone, I was able to find a fix for this (or at least it worked for me). I cleared the cache and reopened EA app, and if it still said "preparing, calculating time" in the bottom left, I cleared the cache again and reopened EA app again. I kept doing this over and over until eventually I opened EA app and there was nothing on the bottom left (the game said it needed to be updated, but it wasn't currently updating). Once this happens, DON'T click to update again. Instead, click "The Sims 4", then "Manage" and then click "Repair" (the option to Repair will not show up if your game is currently updating). Once my game finished repairing, I didn't even have to update it anymore, I just clicked to play and the game opened normally. I hope this helps!