For many years, Unity and Unreal have ruled the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have begun to gain traction, the market remains heavily weighted toward proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example. In this environment, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—believe there is still space for a fresh, more adaptable engine.
Their new venture, Immens, aims to combine the power of modern AI with a flexible architecture to give smaller teams the tools they need to create games faster and at lower cost. The founders bring an impressive résumé: 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 ripe for a new engine, noting that “an opportunity now exists that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.” He believes AI‑assisted programming can revive the spirit of building software from the ground up, allowing developers to assemble fully functional systems with far less manual coding. Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they are employing is not the kind of generative prompt‑to‑art tool that dominates headlines.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s core to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason about large codebases and data sets,” he explains.
“If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny studios can plug in custom features—like a bespoke particle system—without being limited to simple scripting.” This approach, he says, lets creators extend the engine quickly and safely, keeping the development loop tight. The motivation behind Immens stems from the current economic pressures facing game makers. Brussee describes the market as “rough,” pointing out that production budgets are soaring and the risk of failure is higher than ever. “We need new ways of working that lower costs and let teams deliver high‑quality experiences with fewer people and shorter timelines,” he says.
The goal is to break the costly cycle that threatens the livelihood of many independent studios. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a solid technical foundation, it has also stifled innovation.
“The industry is confronting a range of challenges, and simply repeating the same processes won’t solve them,” he argues. “What we need now is genuine innovation, not more of the same.” One of the pain points De Jong highlights is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. By contrast, Immens intends to let the engine adapt to the developer’s needs.
“Flexibility is essential,” he says. “You should be able to swap components, append new modules, and craft custom tools that match your personal workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require.” Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While it is “really powerful,” it can also produce unpredictable results if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is built around transparency and control. “When you use the engine, you always know what it’s doing and why,” he notes.
“You can trace the history of every change, ensuring repeatability and allowing you to build bespoke tools for specific creative problems.” He gives an example: generating five characters with a particular trait used to require weeks of planning; now, with AI assistance, a developer could prototype the concept over a coffee break and iterate rapidly. The architecture of Immens deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow.
De Jong emphasizes that the framework is designed to let users decide how much AI to incorporate and where to apply it. “We provide the scaffolding; you decide the level of automation,” he says.
“The key is ensuring the AI interprets instructions correctly, which is why we’re focusing on robust, understandable models.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of the platform. Immens will rely on open standards and text‑based file formats, making it easy for other tools—Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline—to read and write data seamlessly. Brussee explains, “When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them. This opens the door to smarter interfaces across the entire production pipeline, something that proprietary engines have traditionally resisted.” Despite the hype surrounding AI, the Immens team cautions against sensationalist claims that a single prompt could conjure a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world.
They see AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magical shortcut. Valient remarks, “AI will make everyone better, but the core creative decisions still belong to humans.” De Jong adds, “Any technology can be misused; it’s our responsibility to guide it toward productive, ethical applications.” Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with many fearing a bubble of overvalued startups. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet technology persisted and flourished.
“AI isn’t disappearing,” he asserts. “The companies that build genuinely useful products will survive, and that’s our focus—building a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development, not chasing hype.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against excessive capital, which can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughs, emphasizing that a lean team of the three founders plus a handful of helpers is intentional.
Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act. De Jong explains that a game engine is a complex undertaking that cannot be solved by throwing a million engineers at it. “You need a focused, small group to make thoughtful decisions and iterate quickly,” he says.
“At the same time, we must seize the narrow window of opportunity created by AI’s rise, so we’re careful not to over‑staff or under‑fund.” Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a full editing workflow powered by generative AI. The team aims to release this demo within the month, a timeline that Brussee says is already twice as fast as initially projected.
“We started in April and expected to be finished by year‑end; now we’re ahead of schedule,” he notes. The business model is still evolving. While Immens admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach, Brussee says it’s too early to commit to a specific revenue structure. The team remains focused on delivering a compelling product first.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will catalyze a new wave of creativity and risk‑taking in the industry. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions,” Brussee concludes. “If our technology can help studios push boundaries and innovate, that would be amazing."