If you are setting up a fresh installation of Windows for gaming, the Visual C++ AIO should be one of the first things you install, alongside your GPU drivers and DirectX. This prevents 99% of "first-launch" crashes in Steam, Epic Games, and GOG libraries.
If a program was built using the 2012 version of Visual Studio, your computer must have the 2012 Redistributable installed to understand that program's code. Because different apps use different versions (from 2005 all the way to 2022), your PC often needs a dozen different "runtimes" to function smoothly. Why Use an "All-in-One" Installer? microsoft visual c redistributable runtimes all-in-one
In simple terms, these are "translation layers" that allow apps built using Microsoft’s Visual Studio to run on your computer. Developers use shared code libraries (DLLs) so they don’t have to rewrite common functions from scratch. If you are setting up a fresh installation