What causes the MSVCP140.dll missing error on players' machines?

The Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 runtime is missing or broken on the player's machine — fresh Windows installs, aggressive cleanup tools, or games distributed without the redistributable.

How do I catch this when it only happens for some players?

Capture it automatically from the player's device with the full stack trace, the device and OS, the build, and a breadcrumb trail of what they did. That turns a vague complaint into a specific, reproducible issue you can fix without owning the hardware it happens on.

How to Fix “MSVCP140.dll was not found” Errors for Your Game's Players

Quick answer: Have players install the official VC++ redistributable (matching your game's architecture), and fix the root cause by bundling the redist with your installer or store depot.

MSVCP140 is the C++ standard library DLL from the modern VC++ runtime, and its absence is the most common missing-DLL launch error. It is 100% preventable at distribution time. Here is the plan.

How to fix it

1. Give players the official link

The Microsoft 'latest supported VC++ redistributable' page, x64 for 64-bit games — never DLL-download sites, which are a malware vector your support channel should actively warn against.

2. Bundle it in distribution

Steam: add the VC++ redist to your depot's InstallScript/common redistributables; direct/itch: an installer that runs the redist silently — first launch then never sees the error.

3. Match the architecture

A 64-bit game needs the x64 redist — players who installed only x86 still get the error; support instructions should say to install both.

4. Track launch failures

Crash/launch telemetry (or even store-page FAQ analytics) shows how many players hit DLL errors — data that justifies fixing the installer instead of answering tickets forever.

Catching the ones you can't reproduce

The hardest version of this to fix is the one you can't reproduce — it only happens on a player's hardware, OS, driver, or save state, under conditions that simply aren't present on your machine. A report that says “it crashed” or “it froze” gives you nothing to act on, so the bug survives release after release while quietly costing you players.

Automatic error capture closes that gap. Each failure arrives with its full stack trace, the device and OS, the build number, and a breadcrumb trail of what the player did right before it broke, so even a failure you have never seen becomes a specific, reproducible issue. Fold identical failures into one signature ranked by how many players each hits, and your worklist sorts itself worst-first instead of arriving as a stream of vague complaints.

This is where a tool like Bugnet earns its place. Its SDK captures every error automatically with the full stack trace plus device, OS, memory, build, and game-state context, folds duplicates into one grouped issue with an occurrence count, and ties each to the build it first appeared on — so you fix the problem that hurts the most players first and confirm it is gone when its signature disappears from the next release.

The errors you never hear about are the ones quietly costing you players. Visibility turns them into a worklist.