The Sims 4 Steam Deck Unrecognized Video Card message
I discovered something interesting when running The Sims 4 on the Steam Deck under proton. In this YouTube video by Gaming on Linux https://youtu.be/Ok8Qjnoz2Fk?t=101 Running The Sims 4 on the Steam Deck through SteamOS using proton causes the Unrecognized Video Card message to display.
My guess is that the GPU used in the Steam Deck wasn't added in the GraphicsCard.sgr and GraphicsRules.sgr files which the game looks for when the Options.ini is created (typically after The Sims 4 is started for the first time), or the hardware detection isn't working properly under proton. I don't know if this also happens on a Steam Deck running Windows, or any Linux computers using proton. I don't have a Steam Deck or a gaming computer running Linux, so I can't verify (other than the video with the Steam Deck) about the issues. Despite this message, it seems the game still runs OK.
Given that EA never released Origin/EA app and their games on Linux, I would guess that it's not intended by EA or Maxis for The Sims 4 to be played on Linux or SteamOS (and the game isn't built for the Steam Deck since PC/Mac is designed for keyboards and mice, not controllers like PlayStation and Xbox). I would guess any Linux-specific bugs like the game not starting probably won't be supported by EA since it's assumed that their Windows games would be played on a real Windows desktop rather than a virtual machine or Wine/proton on Linux.