For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have begun to gain traction, the market still feels firmly locked into the hands of a few proprietary platforms, with major studios often sticking to in‑house solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine.
In this landscape, three seasoned developers—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—believe there is still room for a fresh, more adaptable engine. The trio’s résumé reads like a hall of fame of modern game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their new venture, Immens, is built around the idea that the next generation of engines can be smarter, more modular, and fundamentally cheaper to use.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “There’s an opportunity now to build a new engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago. With AI‑assisted programming, you can start from scratch again and get full‑functionality much faster under guided control.” Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the “prompt‑to‑art” kind that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “If we design the code with AI in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle system—without being limited to a narrow scripting layer,” he said.
This approach aims to let creators extend the engine quickly, leveraging AI’s ability to reason over large codebases and data sets. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee describes the market as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing and studios are under increasing pressure to deliver hits with smaller budgets. “We need new ways of working, more efficient pipelines that let us make games faster with fewer people, so studios aren’t risking everything on a single title,” he argued.
De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces a range of challenges, and simply repeating the old methods won’t cut it. We need genuine innovation, not just more of the same,” he said.
He criticizes the monolithic nature of existing engines, which force developers to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immens intends to flip that model, offering an engine that adapts to the developer’s needs rather than the other way around. Flexibility is a core design pillar. De Jong envisions a system where users can swap components, append new features, or craft entirely custom tools that match their personal workflow.
“I can build a UI with the exact shortcuts, panels, and features my team needs, and the engine will accommodate it,” he explained. This level of customizability, combined with AI assistance, aims to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks.
Valient adds that while AI is powerful, it can also veer off course if left unchecked. Immens therefore gives users full visibility into the AI’s actions, complete histories, and reproducible results, ensuring developers stay in the driver’s seat. The engine’s openness extends to file formats as well. Brussee emphasizes the importance of text‑based, open standards that any tool can read.
“If files are plain text, the AI can parse them, and you can plug in software like Blender, Maya, or any generative tool without a painful translation layer,” he said. This interoperability is intended to break the “weird outlier” status of many current engines, which often isolate themselves from the broader ecosystem. There is a vocal backlash against AI in game creation, with some commentators warning of a future where a single prompt could generate a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’ team acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a tool rather than a magic button.
Valient believes AI will elevate the whole industry: “Big games and everything in between will be made better because AI makes everyone more capable.” De Jong echoes this, stressing responsible usage: “AI is a tool like any other; it can be misused, but it’s our duty to guide it toward positive outcomes.” Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with many fearing a bubble of over‑valued startups. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying technology endured. “AI isn’t going away.
The internet survived its bubble, and the same will happen with AI. Good products will persist, and that’s our focus—building a solid engine that leverages AI to speed up development and enable bigger dreams.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its first round of commitments but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against excess capital, saying it can breed complacency: “Too much money makes you lazy; you need to stay scrappy.” The company remains a lean operation—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong notes that building an engine is a complex, long‑term effort that doesn’t benefit from throwing a massive team at it.
Instead, a focused, small group can make deliberate decisions and iterate efficiently, especially given the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rapid evolution. Immens is currently aiming for a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The timeline has already outpaced original expectations: “We thought we’d need until year‑end, but we’re twice as fast,” Brussee reported. As for the business model, Immens is still exploring options.
While they admire Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach, they consider it premature to commit to any specific structure. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will catalyze a new wave of creativity and risk‑taking in games.
“We love games and want to see more complex artistic expressions,” Brussee said. “If Immens can help push the industry forward and enable innovative experiences, that would be amazing.”