Why has my game disappeared?

[keri-johnrlovell]

I bought it in the sale yesterday and played it no problem. Went to play it again today and its completely gone. The link is still on my desktop and there are files in my documents but nothing in my program files. When I try to start it up it brings me here and offers me a chance to purchase it! I already have! Steam havent replied so I am hoping they will see this and fix it please!

'This email message will serve as your receipt. You can also access your Purchase History online at any time.

The Sims 3
7.50 GBP

Total
7.50 GBP'

[-Fields-]

I think thats gonna be a steam issue for them to solve, however does it show up in your library as being brought?

[keri-johnrlovell]

Yeah its in bold, but it also offers me the chance to purchase, lol. No idea what happened, I saw some others had it too, very strange

[Dimios]

Are there multiple steam users in your house (same pc)? When my fiance logs in to my pc with her account she can see my games in bold but she can't play them, it says purchase.

You might have bought and installed Sims 3 with a different account than what you're using now.

[StRoughnecks]

I'm in the same boat as you. I got the Base game and DLC all at the same time, showed up, installed. Went to go play it and it installed funky. Deleted Local content to install again annnnd POOF! All gone! I don't even have access to the CD Keys. At first I though it was because I still had the saves from my Retail verision, but its not the case. I submitted a ticket as well, so if I hear anything back before you I'll post it.

[thx1111]

A partial fix is out there, you can edit the registry if you have the CD key for each DLC (keep in mind, this process is fairly complicated and requires some pretty above average computer knowledge). I bought Sims 3 and all the expansion packs during the recent sale, and it only ran up to Showcase, but I could see the data files were there. Creating the registry entries worked for the ones I had the CD key, but if your nervous about messing around in the registry, I'd wait for Steam to send a fix.

[keri-johnrlovell]

I think its shockingly bad service all round considering how much I have spent on here. No reply from steam support, game just disappeared, no wonder people download illegally.

[Motoki]

Originally posted by keri-johnrlovell:

I think its shockingly bad service all round considering how much I have spent on here. No reply from steam support, game just disappeared, no wonder people download illegally.

I'll be honest, the thought did cross my mind that I paid A LOT of money to get Sims 3 and every pack available and can't access the last 5 packs (okay I can get 4 out of 5 if I jump through a bunch of hoops with the registry but my save has stuff from the most recent pack in it too) yet meanwhile people who pirate the game most like have no problems accessing the content at all.

[thx1111]

For sure, I paid $180 for Sims 3 and all the DLC, then waited hours for the 22GB to download, then, just when I fire it up, half my money seemed to vanish with 5 missing packs. I've also had a similar CD Key problem with Steam when I purchased GTA4, it took them a week to issue CD Keys, which I needed to even play the game.

If anybody at Steam reads this, please, please get those CD keys beforehand and at least test your content to make sure it works..... Being reactive instead of proactive might be cheaper or easier, but it's really creating a PR issue considering how many times I've been down these unneeded roads with Steam before....

[StRoughnecks]

Just a little update: The support got it working for me after having me delete everything but the steam.exe,steamapps, and user data and having it update from there. I just let them know it didn't work and they had me restart steam (+computer, but didn't need to) and POOF, it was there. I did send in an attachment with a SS of the email, store transaction, and my online statement just to overdue it. So I guess for now, just wait for them to respond.

[Mute Siren]

Bah, I'm in the same boat. Bought the base game with pets and all of the dlc that was on sale except sweet treats and something else I didn't care about. Went to play it the next day and it took me to the store to purchase it. Tried deleting local files and it completely removed the game from my library. Sent in a ticket 3 day ago.. still waiting. Ugh. This is rather irritating!

[Kiya]

To do what support asked StRoughnecks to do, if you havn't already done so, try following these steam support instructions -> How to remove and refresh your Steam files

Do also try a restart of Steam/reboot of your PC if it is still not there after doing that.

[keri-johnrlovell]

Mine has finally started working again, no response or apology from steam though, thought it would be nice but hey ho1 Thank you all for your help :-)

[Motoki]

Interesting. I wonder if it is working for others now as well. I fixed mine manually with the registry entries but it would be good to know if it has been fixed for everyone.