For years, Unity and Unreal have ruled the game‑development landscape, together accounting for roughly 70% of all Steam releases projected for 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made notable strides and some studios cling to proprietary tools such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly. Into this entrenched environment step three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh approach.
Their startup, Immens, aims to build an AI‑enhanced engine that lowers barriers for small teams and re‑imagines how games are created. The trio’s résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development. Brussee cut his teeth at Epic Games, the creator of Unreal, and later contributed to titles at Guerrilla Games and Apple.
De Jong has led technical teams at Boss Key and other high‑profile studios, while Valient brings deep systems‑engineering expertise from his previous CTO roles. Together they see an opportunity that didn’t exist just a few years ago: leveraging AI‑assisted programming to rebuild an engine from the ground up. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right because AI tools now allow developers to generate functional code snippets quickly, under tight supervision. “With AI‑supported programming, you can start building things from scratch again,” he said.
“Guided by a solid architecture, you can bring full‑fledged features to life far faster than before.” Valient, who heads Immens’s technology strategy, clarified that the company’s AI is not about prompting a system to conjure assets out of thin air. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s core to make the codebase highly extensible. “If we design the engine with AI reasoning in mind, even solo developers can add custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer,” he noted. The goal is to let creators extend the engine efficiently, using AI as a catalyst rather than a replacement for human ingenuity.
The motivation behind Immens is also economic. Brussee described the current market as “rough,” pointing out that development costs continue to climb, pushing many studios toward unsustainable budgets.
“We need new ways of working that reduce cost, speed up production, and let smaller teams compete without risking everything,” he argued. De Jong echoed this sentiment, observing that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation offers a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry now faces a suite of challenges; simply repeating the old playbook won’t cut it. We need genuine innovation, not just more of the same,” he asserted.
One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which can hinder creativity. Immens intends to flip that script by delivering a flexible, modular system that adapts to the user’s workflow.
“You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and tailor the interface to your exact needs,” he explained. This level of customization would let a developer craft a toolchain that mirrors their personal habits, from shortcut keys to UI layout, thereby streamlining the creative process.
Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users will always see what the engine is doing, retain a full history of changes, and be able to reproduce results reliably.
This auditability is crucial for building trust, especially when AI is used to automate repetitive tasks such as generating multiple character variations. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s architecture. De Jong stressed that the framework does not dictate a single workflow; teams can decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
The engine also embraces open standards, enabling seamless interoperability with popular tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines. “When files are text‑based, any program can read them. By aligning with open standards, we make it trivial for the AI to parse and manipulate assets, fostering smarter, more connected interfaces across the ecosystem,” Brussee said.
The broader conversation around AI in game development is polarized. Some commentators sensationalize the technology, claiming that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience.
Immens’s founders adopt a more measured view. While they acknowledge that “click‑to‑game” engines might eventually emerge, they see AI primarily as an accelerator for human creators. “AI will make everyone better, not replace them,” Valient affirmed, noting the current negative perception stems from the disruptive speed of change.
Economic anxieties also linger, with many questioning whether AI‑focused game tech is a speculative bubble. Valient likened the situation to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear, but numerous over‑hyped companies fell away, leaving only the truly valuable ones.
“We’re building a solid engine first; AI simply helps us iterate faster and dream bigger. Whether it’s a bubble is unknown, but the technology isn’t going anywhere,” he said.
Funding remains modest. Immens has secured initial commitments but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital raise as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against excessive cash, noting that abundant funding can breed complacency.
The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explained that engine development is complex and benefits from a focused, small team that can make deliberate decisions rather than a massive, unwieldy group. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The team expected to finish by year‑end, but they are already two‑fold ahead of schedule, aiming to release the demo within the month. Timeline estimates remain fluid, reflecting the experimental nature of the project. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push artistic boundaries, take risks, and deliver innovative experiences that move the medium forward.
“We love games and want to see more creativity and risk‑taking,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help make that happen, that would be amazing."