For years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of Steam releases in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have begun to attract attention and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been dominated by the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned developers—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have teamed up to launch Immens, an AI‑enhanced game engine that they believe can carve out a meaningful niche. The trio’s résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is right for a fresh engine, noting that "the opportunity didn’t exist a couple of years ago." He sees AI‑assisted programming as a catalyst that lets developers start from a clean slate and achieve full‑featured results much faster than traditional pipelines. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stresses that the AI they employ is not about generating content from a single prompt. Instead, the technology is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
"AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets," he explains. "If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle engine—without being limited to superficial scripting." The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development. Brussee describes the environment as "rough," pointing out that production budgets are ballooning and the risk of failure is increasing. "We need new, more efficient ways of working," he says.
"If we can lower costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines, studios can protect their livelihoods and take creative risks without the same financial dread." De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a stable foundation, he argues that the industry now needs genuine innovation rather than more of the same.
He criticizes the "monolithic approach" of existing engines, where developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immens aims to flip that script, offering a system that adapts to the developer’s needs instead of forcing developers to adapt to it. Flexibility is a recurring theme.
De Jong envisions a toolset where users can swap components, append new features, and craft bespoke interfaces tailored to their personal workflows. "I can build a suite of tools that match exactly how my team operates—down to the shortcuts and UI layout—without fighting against the engine’s default conventions," he says.
Valient acknowledges that AI is powerful but also volatile. "If you don’t keep an eye on it, it can go off the rails quickly," he warns. Immens therefore places control firmly in the user’s hands: every AI‑driven action is logged, repeatable, and transparent.
This oversight allows developers to create disposable utilities—like a rapid character‑generation script—that can be used a handful of times and then discarded, dramatically cutting down the time and expense traditionally required for such tasks. The architecture of Immens is deliberately agnostic. It does not impose a single workflow or prescribe how much AI should be used.
Instead, the framework is built to accommodate a spectrum of approaches, letting teams decide where AI adds value and where manual control is preferable. De Jong stresses that the AI must understand the context correctly, which is why the engine leans on open standards for data interchange. Open standards are another pillar of Immens’s strategy. By relying on text‑based, human‑readable file formats, the engine can seamlessly interact with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline.
"If everything speaks the same language, integration becomes trivial," Brussee notes. This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering cross‑tool collaboration. The broader conversation around AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators sensationalize the technology, claiming that future engines will let anyone conjure a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience with a single prompt. Immens’s founders temper such hype, describing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magical shortcut.
Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry: "Big games and indie projects alike will benefit because AI makes everyone better." Economic anxieties also loom, with skeptics warning of an AI bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, arguing that while many ventures will fail, the underlying technology will endure. "AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming a permanent part of how we build software," he asserts.
Immens’s focus remains on delivering a solid engine first, using AI to accelerate development and inspire bigger creative ambitions. Funding details are still under wraps. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency.
The team remains intentionally lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—believing that a small, focused group can make decisive architectural choices without the bureaucracy of a large staff. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The timeline has already outpaced their original projections: what they expected to take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. While the eventual business model is still being refined, Brussee hints at a partnership philosophy akin to Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" model, though he admits it’s too early for concrete plans.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower creators to push the boundaries of interactive art. "We love games and want to see more daring, risk‑taking experiences," Brussee says.
"If our technology can help bring that vision to life, it would be amazing."