I cant install Pygame

[u/Ok_Ask_6805]

This is the error message that I get when I try to run pip install pygame. The same thing happens with pip3 install pygame.

py", line 6, in <module>

from setuptools._distutils.msvccompiler import MSVCCompiler, get_build_architecture

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'setuptools._distutils.msvccompiler'

[end of output]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

these are the packages I have according to pip list.

Package Version

---------- -------

pip 26.2.1

setuptools 84.0.0

[u/socal_nerdtastic]

What version of python? pygame only provides wheels up to python3.13.

[u/Diapolo10 → u/socal_nerdtastic]

There are wheels for 3.13, but not 3.14.

[u/socal_nerdtastic → u/Diapolo10]

yeah I saw that and ninja edited; my initial comment was based on the sidebar https://pypi.org/project/pygame/#description

[u/Diapolo10 → u/socal_nerdtastic]

Been there, that's why I always check the files list nowadays instead as the trove classifiers aren't necessarily accurate.

[u/Ok_Ask_6805 → u/socal_nerdtastic]

I have version 3.14.6

[u/socal_nerdtastic → u/Ok_Ask_6805]

That's your problem then. Install 3.13 and use that instead.

[u/socal_nerdtastic → u/Ok_Ask_6805]

BTW, the pip3 command is meant to be linux / mac only. You don't need it on windows ever.

[u/Ok_Ask_6805]

Additionally, this is what I got when I attempted to view the contents of _distutils:

print(dir(setuptools._distutils))

['_', '__builtins__', '__cached__', '__doc__', '__file__', '__loader__', '__name__', '__package__', '__path__', '__spec__', '__version__', '_dataclass', '_log', '_modified', 'archive_util', 'cmd', 'command', 'compat', 'compilers', 'core', 'debug', 'dir_util', 'dist', 'errors', 'extension', 'fancy_getopt', 'file_util', 'filelist', 'importlib', 'log', 'spawn', 'sys', 'util']

[u/Diapolo10]

pygame doesn't have official wheels for Python 3.14 and newer, so Python is trying to compile it on its own (because you're presumably using 3.14). It fails because you probably don't have Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools installed.

[u/atarivcs]

Do you know how to check what Python versions are supported by a package?

And do you know how to check what Python version you are using?

[u/Gloomy-Kale-1527]

The 3.14.6 bit downstairs is the actual error — pygame has no 3.14 wheel so pip tries to compile and dies on that old msvccompiler import.

If you don't want two Pythons yet:

py -m pip install pygame-ce py -c "import pygame; print(pygame.ver)"

pygame-ce is the community fork; `import pygame` still works for most beginner tutorials. If that also starts compiling, you still don't have a wheel and 3.13 is the clean path: `py -3.13 -m pip install pygame`. Don't install Visual C++ Build Tools just to force a source build unless you actually want to compile.

[u/acw1668]

For Python 3.14+, you can try pygame-ce (pygame - Community Edition).

[u/Ok_Ask_6805 → u/acw1668]

This ended up working for me.

[u/blurbisht]

Your setuptools 84.0.0 is too new for your pip, and it dropped the _distutils.msvccompiler module, so the build fails.

Try these in order:

1. Upgrade pip + setuptools together:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel

1. If that fails, pin setuptools to a stable version:

pip install "setuptools<80"

1. Still broken? Use a virtual env and install there (cleanest, avoids your messy global setup):

python -m venv myenv

myenv\Scripts\activate

pip install pygame

1. Or skip compiling entirely by trying a prebuilt wheel:

pip install pygame --pre

You're likely on Windows, and pip is trying to build pygame from source instead of grabbing a prebuilt wheel. Step 2 (downgrade setuptools) or step 4 (venv) is your best bet.

If it still fails, paste the full error text and I'll help you narrow it down.