January 2015 - last edited October 2016
Edit: There seems a way to actually play sign-in games offline, the steps are on the solution.
Games that require you to sign in to Origin such as The Sims 4 and Dragon Age: Inquisition will only start if signed in to Origin. If not connected to the Internet without Origin running, the game will not start as Origin won't sign in. Basically, you need an Internet connection to start games that require Origin sign in. Otherwise, the game won't start until you are connected to the Internet.
On Steam, if you are not connected to the Internet and you start Steam, it allows you to run it in Offline Mode assuming if Steam remembers your account and you can run games that require Steam which most non-EA or non-Unisoft games do. However, Origin doesn't provide such an option even if you told Origin to Remember Me. I've learned that to put Origin in Offline Mode, you have to be connected to the Internet and signed in to Origin. This might be annoying on laptops if you started Windows or OS X and you're not connected to the Internet making you unable to play your games. I did report this issue from the thread in The Sims forums back in November 8, 2014 and was told to post the issue here but I haven't gotten the chance.
Here's the results when I try to play The Sims 4 and The Sims Medieval:
Games that don't require Origin sign in such as The Sims 3 (1.67) will start without issues without an Internet connection but others like The Sims 3 (1.69) and The Sims 4 won't.
Solved! Go to Solution.
March 2017 - last edited December 2018
You can play almost all Origin Single Player Games offline.
The games must be authorized online at the first time you start them, after that you can set Origin to offline mode.
Note: That also counts for single player DLCs. (New DLCs must also be authorised online at the first time you start the game with them.)
Troubleshooting
If a Game wont start in Origin's offline mode:
- Close Origin completely.
- Disable your internet connection. (pull the plug or disable the network adapter in the Windows Device manager or the Network Connections.
- Start Origin > login (that is also required in offline mode.) > Start the Game.
January 2015
February 2015 - last edited October 2016
Edit: It seems that with Origin v10, the steps on playing sign in games have changed. Here's the new instructions, I have to thank rosemow from The Sims Forums for helping
It looks like I've found a solution to fix the Origin problem.
This is kept when offline, even if you shut down/restart. Hope that helped you.
April 2015 - last edited April 2015
April 2015
April 2015
@WHYYonder Hi,
An internet connection is required for the start of the Origin Client. You should not need it every time you start your PC but it will be required periodically. Afterwards you can click on Offline mode and then play the Sims, as explained here: https://www.origin.com/how-to/offline-mode
Cheers,
Nils
April 2015
April 2015
i have to agree. it is extremely unfair. I have a ton of titles bought through you guys, and i just found out on my last underway i cant play any of them in my free time. I am in the Navy, about to deploy for 7 months, and in my off time being stuck at sea with almost no port calls, i'm finding out i cant play the games i paid for. Because of this that i regret doing business with EA and Origin. If i had known, i would have spent my money elsewhere. It is things like this that make people prefer to download cracked software in the first place.
At least i can still access the few games i have on steam.
April 2015
May 2015
I'm having this problem too. I want to play my origin games, but don't have internet access, i already bought them.