The Sims 4 — Save Failure After February 2026 Patch
Since installing the most recent February 2026 update for The Sims 4, the game has completely lost the ability to save progress. Gameplay appears normal while playing, but every time the game is closed and reopened, all progress is reset to a state from before the update. This occurs consistently and makes the game effectively unplayable.
The problem started immediately after updating and has persisted without interruption. Before the February 2026 patch, saving worked correctly. The timing strongly suggests a direct connection between the update and the loss of save functionality rather than random file corruption.
Extensive troubleshooting has already been performed following EA standard support guidance. All mods and custom content were fully removed and the game was tested in a completely vanilla state, yet the issue remained. Cache files, including localthumbcache and all cache folders, were deleted with no change. A full clean reinstall was then completed. The entire Sims 4 folder in Documents was removed, the game and all packs were reinstalled, the game was launched to generate a fresh user folder, and both brand new saves and previous saves were tested. In every scenario, the game still cannot save gameplay progress at all. Because the failure occurs on a clean installation with a newly generated user folder and no mods present, local corruption or user configuration issues can be ruled out with high confidence.
The behavior matches a save write or persistence failure sometimes associated with Error Code 21 type conditions, where the game appears to function but cannot properly store progress to disk. However, unlike typical isolated save corruption, this failure affects newly created saves as well, which indicates a broader problem potentially introduced by the February 2026 patch. Community reports describing damaged or non persistent saves after the same update further support the likelihood of a patch level regression rather than an individual system fault, although only EA can definitively confirm this.
The impact is critical because the core gameplay loop depends on saving progress, and there is currently no workaround despite complete reinstall and clean environment testing. For this reason, investigation by EA is required to determine whether the February 2026 update introduced a defect in save persistence, save file compatibility, or local cloud synchronization behavior.
Please advise whether this issue is known, whether the update may have affected save integrity, and whether a fix or workaround is planned. I am available to provide logs, system specifications, or additional testing if needed.
