For years, Unity and Unreal have been the default choices for game creators, accounting for roughly 70% of all Steam releases in 2025. While Godot has gained traction and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine, for example—Unity and Unreal still dominate the engine market. Yet three seasoned developers, Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient, have launched Immens with the belief that there is still space for a fresh, more adaptable engine. The trio’s résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Their collective background gives them a unique perspective on why the current landscape feels stagnant. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing is right for a new engine because "a few years ago the tools we need simply didn’t exist." He argues that AI‑assisted programming now lets developers start from a clean slate again, offering "guided, controlled creation" that can bring full‑featured systems to life quickly.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ isn’t about generating content from vague prompts. Instead, it’s designed to make the engine itself highly extensible.
"AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets," he says. "If we architect the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system, a bespoke animation pipeline, or any other feature without being limited to simple scripting." The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the harsh economic realities of modern game development.
Brussee describes the market as "rough" and warns that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for small teams to survive. "We need new workflows that lower expenses, let us ship faster, and reduce risk for studios of every size," he asserts. De Jong, the chief product officer, adds that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation.
"The industry now faces a series of challenges, and repeating old methods won’t solve them. We need fresh ideas, not more of the same," he says. One of De Jong’s main criticisms of existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which can be a barrier to creativity. With AI, Immens aims to flip that script: the engine should adapt to the developer, not the other way around.
"Flexibility is key," he explains. "You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and tailor the interface to exactly match your workflow—down to the shortcuts you prefer." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While it is "really powerful," it can also veer off course if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep the user in the driver’s seat. Every AI‑generated action is logged, reproducible, and fully transparent, allowing developers to understand and control the process.
This level of oversight makes it possible to create disposable tools for specific tasks—like generating five uniquely‑behaved characters in minutes—without the weeks‑long manual effort that used to be required. Immens does not force a single workflow on its users. De Jong emphasizes that the framework and architecture are deliberately open, letting teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The engine also embraces open standards, ensuring smooth interoperability with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines.
"When files are text‑based, any program can read them," Brussee notes. "That means the AI can parse and manipulate assets directly, and you can plug in your favorite software without fighting proprietary barriers." The broader conversation about AI in game development is often polarized. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype "click‑to‑game" scenarios where a prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑level experience instantly. Immens’s founders see AI more modestly—as a powerful assistant rather than a magic wand.
Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry: "Big titles and indie projects alike will benefit because AI makes everyone better." Economic anxieties also swirl around the AI boom, with fears of a bubble and over‑inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying technology— the internet— persisted and flourished. "AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming the infrastructure of future creation.
Whether we’re in a bubble is uncertain, but the technology’s trajectory is clear," he says. Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable".
Brussee warns against excessive capital, suggesting it can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explains that building an engine is a complex, nuanced effort that doesn’t scale linearly with headcount. A small, focused team can make deliberate decisions and iterate faster, which is crucial given the narrow window of opportunity presented by rapid AI advancements. Currently, Immens is developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aims to release this demo within the month, already having accelerated their timeline by a factor of two compared to the original plan.
While the long‑term business model is still taking shape, Brussee admires Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" licensing philosophy but says it’s too early to commit to a specific approach. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower creators to push the boundaries of the medium.
"We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions," Brussee concludes. "If our technology can lower barriers, encourage risk‑taking, and spark genuine innovation, that would be amazing for the industry."