For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed a noticeable surge in popularity and some studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market for game engines has largely been locked into the duopoly of Unity and Unreal. Enter Immens, a startup founded by three seasoned veterans – Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient – who believe there is still space for a fresh, more adaptable engine. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, with experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio is now setting out to challenge the status quo. 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 don’t meet the needs we see today.” He argues that AI‑assisted programming can revive the ability to start projects from a clean slate, offering “full functionality quickly while still giving developers a lot of guidance and control.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stresses that their use of AI is not about generating content through vague prompts.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over large 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.” The goal is to let creators harness AI to extend the engine faster and more precisely. The motivation behind Immens stems from the current economic pressures on game makers. Brussee describes the market as “rough,” noting that development costs keep climbing and that many studios struggle to stay afloat.
“We need new ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he argues. By cutting costs and speeding up iteration, developers can reduce the financial risk that threatens their studios and livelihoods. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has given developers a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry now faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating old methods won’t solve them,” he says. “What we need is genuine innovation, not more of the same.” A key criticism of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and workflows that are not easily altered. De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs, allowing interchangeable components, custom tools, and personalized interfaces.
“I can build tools that match my exact workflow – the shortcuts, the UI layout, the feature set – for my team and my project,” he explains. Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is “really powerful,” it can also “go off the rails quickly if you don’t watch it.” Immens therefore aims to keep users in the driver’s seat: the engine records its actions, provides a clear history, and ensures repeatable results.
This transparency lets developers create one‑off tools for specific tasks – such as generating five characters with a particular trait – in a matter of minutes rather than weeks, dramatically reducing cost. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s design. The framework does not impose a single workflow; instead, it lets teams decide how much AI to integrate and where.
De Jong stresses that the architecture must be robust enough to support varied approaches while still guaranteeing that the AI interprets instructions correctly. Interoperability is another priority. By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens makes it easy for external software like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI tool to communicate with the engine.
“When files are text‑based, any program can read them,” Brussee notes. “This opens the door to smarter interfaces across the entire toolchain, something proprietary engines have historically resisted.” The broader conversation about AI in game development is heated. Some commentators on platforms like LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that could produce Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt.
Immens’s founders see AI more modestly, as a powerful assistant rather than a magic wand. Valient believes AI will make “big games and everything in between better,” but cautions that the technology’s current negative perception stems from its disruptive speed. Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many questioning whether the sector is a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet persisted and flourished. “AI isn’t going away,” he says. “Our focus is on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and lets us dream bigger.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑funding, noting that excessive capital can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughs. The team itself is tiny – just the three founders plus a handful of helpers – and they deliberately keep it that way.
De Jong explains that building an engine is a complex endeavor that cannot be rushed by throwing a million engineers at it. Instead, a focused, small group can make deliberate decisions and iterate efficiently, especially during the narrow window of opportunity created by AI’s rise.
Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The prototype is slated for release this month, already arriving “twice as fast” as the original schedule projected when the company launched in April.
This rapid progress makes it difficult to predict exact timelines, but the momentum is clear. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s philosophy of “we succeed when you succeed,” but admits it is too early to formalize a revenue strategy. The ultimate aim, he says, is to empower creators to push the medium forward.
“We love games, we love their artistic complexity, and we want to see more risk‑taking and innovation,” he concludes. “If our technology can help bring more daring, creative experiences to life, that would be amazing."