For years, Unity and Unreal have held sway over the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases projected for 2025. While Godot has made notable strides and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been dominated by these two giants. Yet three seasoned veterans, Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient, have launched Immens with the belief that there is still space for a fresh engine, and that it can be built better.
The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their combined expertise fuels confidence that they can challenge the status quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new engine, noting that “a few years ago this kind of platform didn’t exist.” He believes AI‑assisted programming now makes it feasible to start from scratch and achieve full‑featured functionality quickly, without the heavy hand of legacy constraints.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the “prompt‑to‑content” hype that dominates headlines. 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 explains. "If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers. The AI acts as an accelerator for extension, not a replacement for creative input." One of the driving forces behind Immens is the increasingly hostile economics of game development. Brussee describes the current climate as “rough,” emphasizing that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for studios to stay afloat.
"We need new ways of working that lower budgets and shrink team sizes while still delivering high‑quality experiences," he says. The goal is to break the cycle where financial risk threatens the very existence of studios. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
"The industry now faces a host of challenges, and merely repeating past practices won’t solve them," he asserts. He criticizes the monolithic nature of existing engines, where developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. By contrast, Immens aims to be a chameleon—adapting to the developer’s needs through AI‑driven flexibility.
Flexibility, according to De Jong, means interchangeable modules, appendable features, and the ability to craft personal toolsets. He envisions a scenario where a developer can build an interface tailored to their workflow, with custom shortcuts, panels, and utilities that reflect their unique project requirements. This level of personalization, he argues, is essential for fostering creativity and efficiency. Valient acknowledges AI’s power but also its volatility.
"If you don’t keep an eye on it, the system can go off the rails," he warns. To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep the user in the driver’s seat.
Every AI action is logged, reproducible, and transparent, allowing developers to understand the decision‑making process. This traceability is crucial when rapid iteration—like generating five characters with specific traits in minutes—replaces weeks‑long manual pipelines. Immens does not impose a single workflow.
De Jong stresses that the engine’s architecture is deliberately agnostic, letting teams decide how much AI to integrate and where. The framework supports open standards, meaning text‑based files can be read and manipulated by any compatible tool.
"When files are open, the AI can ingest them, transform them, and hand them back to programs like Blender, Maya, or any generative system," Brussee notes. This openness counters the “closed‑off” nature of many current engines, which often act as barriers to cross‑tool collaboration. The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience.
Immens’s team acknowledges that such “click‑to‑game” visions might eventually materialize, but they view AI primarily as an empowering tool rather than a magic wand. Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry, making both blockbuster titles and indie projects better. Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with fears of a bubble and inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many speculative companies vanished, the underlying internet persisted and thrived.
"AI isn’t disappearing; it’s evolving. Good technology and solid products will survive, and that’s our focus—building a great engine," he says. Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its first commitments but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against over‑capitalization, warning that excess cash can breed complacency. 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 rushed by sheer manpower; a small, focused team is better suited to make thoughtful decisions and iterate efficiently. Currently, Immens is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases AI‑driven editing workflows, slated for release later this month.
The timeline has already outpaced their original projection of a year‑long development cycle, highlighting the speed gains they claim AI provides. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to lock in a pricing strategy.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will spark a wave of creative risk‑taking in games, enabling more artists to push the medium forward. "We love games and want to see more daring, expressive work. If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing," Brussee concludes.