Steamworks Common Redistributables: what they are and how to install them

The video game sales industry has changed in recent years, moving from the physical sales format to the digital format, especially when it comes to consoles. However, if we talk about PC games, the industry has long since changed and opted for a digital sales model that reduces intermediaries, but without lowering its price. If we talk about digital game stores, we have to talk about Steam .

Steam is the largest, most used and most popular platform in the world to buy games in digital format , a platform that belongs to the video game developer Valve known for titles such as Counter Strike, Dota 2 and Hal-Life and that first saw the light time in 2002.

Steamworks Common Redistributables

Just like the applications that we install in Windows, they make use of certain libraries available natively in Windows, the games available in Steam also need access to those libraries, but, in addition, they also need add-ons to be able to run the games. correct way. This is where Steamworks Common Redistributables comes into play.

What are the Steamworks Common Redistributables

Steamworks Common Redistributable is a set of tools required to run games properly. Before the release of this set of components, each game ran a series of scripts during the installation of all games with certain requirements to install the necessary components.

In this way, each developer had to include the necessary script to install the necessary components while users continually wondered why the same components were installed over and over again every time a game was downloaded.

The solution to this problem was to create the Steamworks Common Redistributable, an application that downloads and installs all the necessary components to run each game . In addition, it is also responsible for updating it periodically when necessary, so that neither the user nor the developers have to do anything to keep it updated.

The necessary redistributables, as Steam calls them, include Microsoft Visual C++, .NET, DirectX 9, XNA, PyshX and XNA mainly, without which most games could work correctly, hence their importance.

Steamworks is also the platform that Steam makes available to all video game studios so that they can prepare their releases on the platform, obtain information about sales, create advertising campaigns, prevent fraudulent purchases, implement DRM protections, generate passwords from Steam, automated build processes, and much more.

How to install

As we have mentioned above, it is not necessary to install this set of elements manually to be able to enjoy the games available on this platform, since the titles that require any of these components will automatically install it on our computer. However, if we want, we can also install manually by searching Steam for Steamworks Common Redistributable and then clicking on the Install button. The size it occupies on the storage unit will change depending on the tools that are automatically downloaded to run the games.

Instalar Steamworks Common Redistributable

This set of tools is only available for the Steam video game platform. The Epic Games Store does not install any additional toolsets when games are downloaded and installed, as it currently works the same as Steam previously did, but with the exception of not reinstalling the same tools if it detects that they are missing. available on the computer. The same happens with other game launchers like Origin, Battle.Net and others, since these install everything necessary the first time we install the application that gives access to all the titles available through that platform.

How do i update them

Steam automatically takes care of updating the Steamworks Common Redistributable, so we don’t have to worry at any time about looking for updates to this tool, only if one of the games we’ve downloaded doesn’t work or works erratically, crashes, closes automatically and other problems.

Troubleshoot common issues

If, despite having updated Steam to the latest version and also having the latest version of the Steamworks Common Redistributable installed on our computer, we cannot open any games on Steam, the easiest solution is to uninstall them from our computer.

However, if we do not modify the Windows registry , we will most likely still face the same problem once we install them again. The easiest solution to avoid this problem is to delete the registry keys available in the Windows registry.

If we use a 32-bit version of Windows, we must delete the registry key located in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Valve/SteamApps/Common/Redist

For 64-bit versions of Windows, the registry key to delete is available at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/Valve/Steam/Apps/Common/Redist

Each of these keys generates various subkeys that correspond to each redistributable that we have installed on the computer, so, when we delete the main key, we eliminate all the included subkeys from the registry.

If after trying this solution, the game still does not run, we must check the integrity of the files of this tool through Steam. To do so, we access the Steamworks Common Redistributable tab, click on the cogwheel and then on Properties . In the window that appears, click on Local files and in the section on the right click on Verify the integrity of the tool’s files . If there is a problem with the files, Steam will download the necessary content to fix it and finally display the message All files have been successfully validated.

Verificar integridad archivos Steam

Eliminate them: is it recommended?

Nobody forces us to install software that we don’t want on our device, except Microsoft, although in recent years, it already allows users to uninstall some of the applications that it includes natively to obtain advertising revenue (Candy Crush, Disney +, Netflix and others) that it previously did not allow.

The case of the Steamworks Common Redistributable is the same. However, if we want to enjoy the games on the Steam platform, we have no choice but to keep this set of tools installed on our computer, whether we like it or not, as long as we use Windows, since, both in Linux and in macOS, it is not necessary, however, most games are not compatible with these operating systems.

What if we can do, if it annoys us to see this set of applications among our list of games, is to hide it . To hide Steamworks Common Redistributable, we must access the application file, click on the cogwheel and then on Manage. Within this menu, we select the Hide option.

Ocultar juegos Steam

To uninstall Steamworks Common Redistributable, we can do it in different ways. The first is through Steam, accessing the details of this tool and clicking on the Uninstall button. The option that we have at our disposal to uninstall the Steamworks Common Redistributable is through the Windows configuration options, clicking on the Applications section, selecting the application by clicking on the Uninstall button.