Registration Code Invalid (2024)

[lady_chayley]

Here's the rundown:

Bought Sims 3 on Steam in 2020. Never registered it. Hated the game. Uninstalled. 

Redownloaded recently and thought I'd make a Sims 3 account since I want to play the game now lol. Found my registration code on Steam, typed it in on thesims3.com... and it's invalid. Went looking on some forums for answers and decided to link Steam with EA. Sims 3 is now on EA app as well. Thesims3.com still doesn't recognize me as owning the game. 

I've been tearing my hair out trying to find either Steam or EA support contact information but every link I've followed to get a chat going redirects me to unhelpful pages that "answer" my question by saying I must have already registered the game with a different account. Too exhausted to keep on figuring this out without other input.

Thanks in advance!

[puzzlezaddict]

@lady_chayley  Just checking, but you're absolutely sure you didn't type in the wrong code, for example confusing an o for a zero?  It's worth trying again just in case.

Otherwise, you'll need to contact EA customer support for help.  I would strongly recommend using live chat rather than email.  If you don't see the option, try this link:

https://help.ea.com/en/help-contact-us/?product=the-sims-3&topic=missing-game&category=manage-my-acc...

Make sure you're signed into an EA site (this one is fine) before clicking the link and that the location in the lower-right corner of the browser window is set to U.S. or U.K.

Take a screenshot of your Steam CD Keys, with your username and Sims 3 itself showing in the background, as proof of ownership.  You can upload this when you submit the help request.

Ask that the support rep manually add the game to your account because you can't use the Sims 3 site, and the only way to get access is to have the game in your EA account.

If you don't get anywhere with support, let me know.

[lady_chayley]

Thanks for the link! It was exactly what I was scouring for.

Yes, the code is right. I also tried typing it into the EA app (out of desperation) and got a message saying I already owned it. So I guess now I know for sure the code is mine and not on any other account.

Unfortunately, the support agent had no idea how to help me. They could see I owned the game but couldn't explain why it wasn't showing up on thesims3.com. Kept recommending I log out of things and uninstall things and eventually, they left the chat while I was working on their instructions. I told them exactly what you suggested I say and no dice. 

Should I try the chat again and hope for a different agent? I don't want to tell an agent how to do things, but is there anything I can say or request that should get the job done?

Thanks again

[puzzlezaddict]

@lady_chayley  I would try chat again with a different agent, and specifically say you need them to manually add the game to your account.  This is a known issue with the Store site, although it doesn't happen often, and the only way to fix it is to add another copy of the game.  I don't like telling support people what to do either, but the fact is that most of them aren't trained on Sims 3 issues and don't have any idea where to start.

I'll flag your post to someone from EA as well, in case there's anything more specific you could or should say.  But since this is a holiday weekend in the U.S., it'll take a few days for them to reply.  So you might as well contact support again in the interim.

[lady_chayley]

@puzzlezaddict Just got off live chat. It was frustrating, to say the least. They tried to "fix" my game and wouldn't listen to me when I kept explaining the problem was with the store. Ah well.

Thanks for flagging this post! Hopefully, in a few days, I'll have good news to report.