Update on the status of The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection in the EA App

Hello, Simmers!

I just wanted to provide an update for everyone regarding the status of The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection on the new EA App (and Origin) as I have seen a lot of confusion and fear over the current situation.

Edit - latest update as of 24th January 2023: A couple of days ago the thumbnail for the game was updated to say The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. They also seem to have fixed both the error with downloading the game as well as the Store Edition zip download problem faced by some. As of now, it seems that everyone who owns The Sims 2 UC should be able to install it from the EA app again - if the game is still missing from your library, please report it using the EA forums link below!

For those really out of the loop, EA are changing their platform from their Origin app to the new EA App. This transition began a few months back, but there are some issues at the moment. You do not have to uninstall Origin and start using the EA App right now. You also may not have any problems moving apps - it was a smooth process for me - or you may have a terrible experience due to some of the bugs mentioned below! I recommend waiting to move for the time being, until the app is more stable.

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection is and will remain on the new EA App and can be installed and played with in the exact same way as Origin. It has not been removed from EA's servers as some people have claimed.

However, some people cannot currently see it or download it in the EA App. If the game is not showing up in your library in the EA App, or if you are having trouble downloading it (including if it shows as The Sims 2 Store Edition), this is an issue with the app that is currently under investigation. Please see the second response by EA_Cade, the EA Community Manager, in this forum post. Note that they mention they have stopped migrating people from Origin as a result of the issues with the transition, and also that this is not exclusive to The Sims 2 UC - people are having trouble with a range of content. Please also follow EA_Cade's instructions and report the issues you are having in the way he says - this will help them to resolve it!

If you contact support about it (rather than using the Answers HQ post advised by EA_Cade), you may get unhelpful and incorrect answers such as "the game has been sunsetted" and "go play Sims 4" - ignore these, and report the problem as outlined in the link above. The game definitely can install and run from the EA App as of now, and the reason for it not currently downloading for some people is simply hiccups in development of the new app.

You don't need to reinstall the game when moving from Origin to the EA App. If you have the game already installed, you'll experience zero changes when moving to the EA app.

Some things to note, which don't affect the game but you might notice:

The cover art says The Sims 2 Double Deluxe and the title in your EA Library is now The Sims 2. Rest assured it is the Ultimate Collection that is installed. This has now been fixed and the cover art says The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection, though the title name remains The Sims 2.

The size of the download may say something like 10GB. Of course, as you might know from Origin it's really about 12.6GB. Again, just an anomaly of the app and it'll be the correct size when it installs.

The default install location has changed as they're getting rid of the "Origin Games" folder. It will now install in C:/Program Files/EA Games/The Sims 2 UC. This will not affect your current installation (which will remain in C:/Program Files (x86)/Origin Games/The Sims 2 UC if you left it in the default location when originally installing).

You can no longer run the game in windowed mode by adding -w to the target of the shortcut. Instead, click on the 3 dots on the title in your EA App library, click View Properties, and in the window that pops up you will see "Advanced Launch Options". Put -w in here and click save, then the game will launch in windowed mode.

You can still use the RPC launcher or any other crack to get around having to launch the EA app (or Origin, for that matter) to play. You can use windowed mode with these cracked exes as normal (the RPC launcher has a setting for it in RPCSettings.exe).

I hope this has helped assuage any fears you have about the status of The Sims 2 UC - it is certainly still available (for those of us who own it) and hopefully with enough reports, everyone will be able to regain access to it. If there is any other relevant info you think would be useful for this post, please let me know. And if you have any other questions about the situation, please ask and I will do my best to get the answer for you.

Happy Simming!

Original Post here.