For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces shaping the video‑game development landscape. In fact, by 2025 roughly seventy percent of all titles released on Steam were built with one of those two platforms.
While open‑source alternatives such as Godot have begun to gain traction, the market remains largely concentrated in the hands of proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example. In this environment, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have decided that there is still room for a fresh approach. Their startup, Immens, is set to introduce an AI‑augmented game engine that they believe can break the cycle of ever‑increasing production costs and creative bottlenecks. The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development.
Brussee cut his teeth at Epic Games, the creator of Unreal, and later contributed to titles at Guerrilla Games and Apple. De Jong has held senior roles at Boss Key and other high‑profile studios, while Valient brings deep technical expertise from his previous CTO positions. Together, they see an opportunity that did not exist just a few years ago: leveraging AI‑assisted programming to rebuild a game engine from the ground up, giving developers more agency and less reliance on monolithic, closed‑source pipelines. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right because AI tools have matured enough to handle large codebases and reason about complex data structures.
“With AI‑supported programming, you can start building things from scratch again,” he said. “You retain tight guidance and control, yet you can bring full‑fledged functionality to life much faster than before.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stressed that the AI component is not about generating assets with a single prompt. Instead, it is designed to make the engine itself highly extensible.
“The AI can understand the codebase and help developers extend it efficiently,” he noted. “A small team—or even a solo creator—could add a custom particle system, a new rendering path, or any bespoke feature without being limited to superficial scripting.” This philosophy underpins Immens’s goal of turning AI into a productivity catalyst rather than a replacement for human creativity. The motivation for this new engine stems from a bleak market reality that Brussee describes as “rough.” Game development budgets have ballooned, making it increasingly difficult for independent studios to survive.
“We need new ways of working that lower costs and let smaller teams deliver high‑quality experiences quickly,” he argued. De Jong echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While standardization provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry now faces a series of challenges, and simply repeating the old methods won’t cut it,” he said. “We need a different, more flexible approach.” One of the pain points with current engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, which can hinder experimentation. De Jong envisions an engine that adapts to the user rather than the other way around.
“It should be interchangeable, modular, and customizable,” he explained. “You could craft tools that match your personal workflow—exact shortcuts, interfaces, and features—so the engine becomes an extension of your creative process.” Valient acknowledged that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is “really powerful,” it can also “go off the rails” if left unchecked.
Immens therefore places a strong emphasis on transparency and control. Users will be able to see what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable results. This level of oversight makes it possible to generate, for example, five unique characters with specific traits in the time it once took weeks, allowing developers to iterate rapidly and discard temporary tools after use. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s architecture.
The framework does not enforce a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. De Jong highlighted the importance of open standards for interoperability. By using text‑based file formats, the engine can communicate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines.
“When everything speaks the same language, you can plug in any software and have it talk to the engine without a custom bridge,” he said. The broader industry reaction to AI in game development is mixed. Some commentators hype “click‑to‑game” promises, claiming that a full‑blown Grand Theft Auto‑style world could be conjured with a single prompt.
Immens’s team is more measured. They see AI as a powerful assistant that will make developers better, not as a magic button that eliminates the need for skill. “AI is disrupting at a scale we haven’t seen before, which creates negative connotations,” Valient admitted, but he believes responsible usage will ultimately benefit the medium.
Economic anxieties also linger, with many questioning whether AI‑focused startups are part of a bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the technology endured.
We’re building a solid engine first; AI simply accelerates our ability to dream bigger.” Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against over‑capitalization, noting that excess money can breed complacency.
The company deliberately remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to retain agility and focus. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The team expected this milestone by year‑end, but they are already two‑fold ahead of schedule, aiming to release the demo within the month. As for the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but says it’s too early to commit to a specific revenue structure. Ultimately, the trio hopes their engine will rekindle creativity and risk‑taking in the industry. “We love games as complex artistic expressions,” Brussee concluded.
“If Immens can help push the boundaries of what’s possible, that would be amazing.”