For over a decade, Unity and Unreal have been the de‑facto platforms for video‑game creation, accounting for roughly seventy percent of all titles launched on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and large publishers continue to rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been monopolised by the two giants. Enter Immens, the brainchild of three seasoned veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, featuring stints at Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they argue that the current engine landscape is ripe for disruption and that a new, AI‑enhanced tool can address long‑standing pain points. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a fresh engine because “the possibilities that didn’t exist a couple of years ago are now within reach.” He believes AI‑assisted programming can restore the ability for developers to start projects from a clean slate, offering rapid, full‑featured prototypes under tight guidance and control.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stresses that their use of AI differs from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑asset” narrative. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he says. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without being confined to a limited scripting layer.” This approach aims to let creators extend the engine quickly, using AI as a productivity catalyst rather than a black‑box generator.
The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the harsh economics of modern game development. Brussee describes the environment as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for small teams to break even. He asks, “Can we discover new, more efficient ways of working that lower budgets, reduce team size, and shorten timelines, so studios aren’t gambling their livelihoods?” De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that standardisation provides a solid foundation, he argues the industry now needs genuine innovation. “Continuing to do exactly what we’ve always done won’t solve the emerging challenges,” he says. “We need a different paradigm, not another monolithic engine that forces developers to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines.” According to De Jong, the monolithic nature of existing tools forces developers to adapt to the engine rather than the engine adapting to them.
He envisions a flexible system where users can swap components, append new modules, and craft custom tools that match their personal workflows. “Imagine being able to build an interface with the exact shortcuts, features, and layout that my team needs for a specific project—that’s the freedom we’re targeting,” he explains. Valient acknowledges AI’s power but also its volatility.
He warns that without careful oversight, AI can “go off the rails quickly.” Immens therefore places control squarely in the hands of the user: the engine logs its actions, maintains a reproducible history, and allows developers to audit and tweak outcomes. This transparency ensures that AI‑generated assets or scripts remain trustworthy and repeatable.
The team illustrates the potential impact with a simple example: creating five characters with a unique trait used to require weeks of planning and manual labor. With AI‑assisted tools, a developer could sketch the idea over coffee, generate the assets, iterate, and discard the temporary workflow after five uses—dramatically cutting cost and time. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s core.
De Jong stresses that the engine does not impose a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The architecture is deliberately modular, allowing teams to decide the balance between manual control and AI assistance.
Interoperability is another pillar of Immens’s design philosophy. By adopting open, text‑based standards, the engine can communicate seamlessly with other tools such as Blender, Maya, or any future generative‑AI pipeline. Brussee points out that when files are human‑readable, “the AI can parse them, manipulate them, and integrate them with other software without the usual proprietary roadblocks.” This openness contrasts with many existing engines that act as isolated ecosystems.
The broader community remains divided on AI’s role in game creation. Some commentators on LinkedIn predict a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand‑Theft‑Auto‑scale world, fueling fears of a “click‑to‑game” apocalypse. Immens’s founders temper these expectations, describing AI as a powerful tool rather than a magical shortcut.
Valient believes AI will elevate the skill of every developer, making large‑scale projects more accessible while preserving artistic intent. Economic concerns also loom. Critics label the AI boom a bubble with inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many speculative companies vanished, the underlying internet persisted and flourished.
He argues that Immens’s focus is on building a genuinely useful engine; AI merely accelerates development and expands creative horizons. Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the team is committed to delivering a solid product regardless of external hype. Funding is still in its early stages. Immens has secured “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency and diminish the scrappy mindset essential for a startup.
The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explains that engine development is complex and cannot be solved by simply throwing a large team at it. A small, focused group can make deliberate decisions and iterate efficiently, especially given the narrow window of opportunity presented by rapid AI advancements.
Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a full editing workflow powered by generative AI, slated for release within the month. Brussee admits that the original timeline projected an end‑of‑year delivery, yet the team is already moving at double that speed, underscoring the productivity gains they claim AI can deliver. Business‑model discussions are ongoing. While Immens admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” revenue sharing, they consider it premature to lock in a specific approach.
The ultimate goal, according to Brussee, is to empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking, artistic expression, and innovation. “We love games and want to see the art form evolve,” he says. “If our technology can help make that happen, that would be amazing."