A little more digging led to Microsoft’s official support page. That’s where Alex found the plot twist:
"Ah, no problem," Alex thought. "I just need to download DirectX 12."
The moral of the story? If you're on , you don't need to hunt for a separate DirectX 12 download. Just run Windows Update, and if a game asks for a missing DirectX component, get the official Microsoft web installer. Avoid third-party download sites — they’re often outdated or worse, malicious.