A: It shouldn't. If it does, the game launcher is incorrectly configured. Try reinstalling the game or checking for a launch option like -SkipPrereq in the game’s target line.
Windows does not have a universal package manager like Linux. While modern Windows 10 and 11 come with some preinstalled runtimes, thousands of UE4 games require specific versions of the Visual C++ Redistributable. For example: ue4prereqsetup-x64.exe
ue4prereqsetup-x64.exe solves this by:
ue4prereqsetup-x64.exe is an official executable file distributed by Epic Games as part of the Unreal Engine 4 redistribution package. The name breaks down into three distinct parts: A: It shouldn't
The purpose of this executable is to automatically detect, download, and install the necessary runtime components that a UE4 game or application requires to function correctly on a user's machine. Instead of bundling massive runtime libraries with every game, developers use this tool to fetch only what is missing. ue4prereqsetup-x64
A: The executable itself is small, but the VC++ redistributables it downloads are roughly 15-25 MB, and DirectX runtime can be up to 100 MB. These are one-time downloads.