For years, the game‑development landscape has been dominated by two heavyweight engines: Unity and Unreal. In 2025, roughly seventy percent of titles launched on Steam were built with one of these platforms.
While the open‑source Godot engine has enjoyed a surge in popularity, many large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—and the duopoly of Unity and Unreal continues to command the market. Enter Immens, a nascent company founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the status quo. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑tech powerhouses: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they are setting out to challenge the entrenched players with a platform that leverages artificial intelligence in a fundamentally different way. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because "the tools that existed a couple of years ago simply aren’t sufficient for the challenges we face today." He argues that AI‑assisted programming can rekindle the spirit of building from the ground up, offering developers a higher degree of guidance while still delivering rapid, full‑featured results.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, is careful to distinguish his vision of AI from the hype surrounding generative text‑to‑image or text‑to‑code prompts. "Our AI isn’t about conjuring assets out of thin air," he says. "It’s about constructing an engine architecture that is inherently extensible.
Because AI can analyse massive codebases and reason about patterns, we can design the core so that even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—say, a bespoke particle engine—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers. The AI acts as a catalyst for extension, not a replacement for thoughtful engineering." The motivation behind Immens’ AI‑centric approach stems from a bleak economic reality in the games sector. Brussee describes the current climate as "rough," noting that development costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for studios to achieve financial viability.
"We need new ways of working that lower barriers, shrink budgets, and accelerate timelines," he says. "If we can empower smaller teams to produce high‑quality experiences faster, we reduce the existential risk that many independent studios face." De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has entered a phase of "standardisation and consolidation." While this has produced stable foundations, it has also led to a monolithic mindset where developers must adapt to rigid pipelines, proprietary file formats, and limited customization.
"We need innovation, not more standardisation," he asserts. "Our goal is to give creators a flexible toolset that bends to their workflow rather than forcing them into a one‑size‑fits‑all mold." Flexibility, according to De Jong, means allowing developers to interchange, append, and modify components at will. He envisions a scenario where a designer can craft a personal suite of shortcuts, interfaces, and utilities tailored precisely to a project’s needs.
This level of personalization, he argues, is only possible when the underlying engine is built with modularity and AI‑friendly interfaces from the ground up. Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is "really powerful," it can also "go off the rails" if left unchecked. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can trace the engine’s decision‑making history, ensuring repeatable outcomes and the ability to create bespoke tools for specific tasks.
For example, generating five characters with a unique trait used to require weeks of manual work; with AI‑assisted pipelines, a developer could prototype the concept over a coffee break, iterate rapidly, and discard the temporary tool once the job is done—dramatically reducing cost and time. Immens’ architecture deliberately avoids imposing a singular workflow. De Jong stresses that the platform will let users decide how much AI to integrate and where to apply it, while still guaranteeing that the AI understands the context correctly.
This user‑centric philosophy extends to interoperability: by adopting open, text‑based standards for asset files, Immens ensures that external tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative model can communicate seamlessly with the engine. "When files are human‑readable, the AI can parse and manipulate them directly," Brussee explains.
"That openness is a huge advantage over proprietary pipelines that often act as closed ecosystems." The broader industry reaction to AI in game development is mixed. Some commentators on LinkedIn sensationalize the technology, claiming that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’ founders temper such expectations, describing AI as a "tool" rather than a magical shortcut.
Valient believes that AI will elevate the craft of developers across the spectrum, making both blockbuster and indie projects more ambitious. "It’s a disruptive force, but like any tool, its impact depends on how responsibly we wield it," he says.
Economic anxieties also linger, with critics warning of an AI bubble reminiscent of the dot‑com era. Valient counters that while valuations may be inflated, the underlying technology is unlikely to disappear.
"The internet didn’t vanish after the dot‑com crash; the companies that delivered real value survived. We’re focused on building a genuinely useful engine, and AI simply accelerates our ability to innovate.
Whether it’s a bubble is uncertain, but the momentum of AI research is undeniable." Funding for Immens remains modest and discreet. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑capitalisation, noting that excess money can breed complacency. "Startups need to stay scrappy; too much cash can make you lazy," he jokes. The team itself is intentionally lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers.
De Jong explains that building a sophisticated engine does not require a million‑person army; a small, focused group can make deliberate design choices and iterate efficiently. However, timing is critical.
The industry is at a crossroads with AI reshaping pipelines, and Immens aims to capture the window of opportunity before it closes. Currently, Immens is working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The goal is to release this demo within the month, demonstrating how quickly developers can iterate on content using AI‑augmented tools. Brussee notes that the team initially projected a year‑long development timeline, yet they are already moving at double that speed, underscoring the very efficiencies they promise to deliver to users.
Business model discussions are still in early stages. While Immens admires Epic Games’ revenue‑share approach—"we succeed when you succeed"—the founders admit it is too soon to commit to a specific pricing structure.
Their focus remains on proving the technology’s value and fostering a community of creators who can benefit from an open, AI‑enhanced engine. Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will spark a renaissance of creativity and risk‑taking in games. "We love games as an expressive art form," Brussee says.
"We want to see more daring ideas, more experimental mechanics, and more diverse voices. If our engine can lower the barriers and accelerate innovation, that would be amazing for the whole industry."