For many years the game‑development landscape has been dominated by two heavyweight engines—Unity and Unreal. In fact, by 2025 roughly seventy percent of all titles released on Steam were built with one of those platforms.
While open‑source alternatives such as Godot have gained traction and some large publishers continue to rely on proprietary solutions like Capcom's RE Engine, the market share of Unity and Unreal remains overwhelmingly large. Enter Immens, a startup founded by three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game‑tech history, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes the status quo still leaves room for a fresh engine that can address the pain points that have begun to surface in recent years. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform. "A few years ago the idea of an AI‑augmented engine didn’t really exist," he said.
"Now, with AI‑supported programming, we can start building tools from the ground up again, under tight guidance, and get full‑featured functionality much faster." Valient, Immens' chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are integrating is not the kind that merely generates assets from prompts. Instead, it is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
"AI can reason over large amounts of data and source code," he noted. "If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or very small teams can plug in custom systems—say a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer. The AI helps them extend the engine quickly and safely." The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from what Brussee describes as a "rough" market climate.
Game development costs have ballooned, making it increasingly difficult for independent studios to survive. "We need new ways of working that cut expenses, shrink team sizes, and speed up production," he argued.
"Otherwise you risk your studio, your livelihood, and the creative risks that make games exciting." De Jong, Immens' chief product officer, pointed out that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a solid technical foundation, it also means the industry is less willing to experiment. "We’re at a point where the challenges facing developers demand innovation, not more of the same," he said.
"A monolithic engine forces developers to adapt to its file formats and workflows. With AI, we can flip that relationship—letting the engine adapt to the developer’s needs." Flexibility is a core design principle for Immens. De Jong envisions a system where developers can swap components, append new modules, or rewrite tools to match their personal workflows. "I can build an interface with the exact shortcuts, features, and visual layout that my team requires," he explained.
"The engine should be a canvas, not a cage." Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can behave unpredictably if left unchecked. To mitigate that risk, Immens is built around transparency and user control. "You always see what the engine is doing, you can trace its history, and you can reproduce results reliably," he said. This level of oversight is crucial for creative pipelines where a designer might need to generate five unique characters with specific traits in a matter of minutes—a task that previously could take weeks.
Immens does not impose a single workflow on its users. De Jong stressed that the framework is deliberately agnostic, allowing teams to decide how much AI assistance they want and where to apply it. The architecture is also oriented around open standards, meaning that common file formats—text‑based assets, JSON, XML, etc.—can be read and manipulated by any tool. "When files are plain text, any program can parse them," Brussee noted.
"That opens the door for seamless integration with Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline." The broader industry conversation about AI in games is polarized. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the notion of "click‑to‑game" experiences where a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immens’ founders are more measured. Valient sees AI as a catalyst that will make developers more capable, not a replacement for human creativity.
"AI has negative connotations now because it’s disrupting at a scale we haven’t seen before," he said. "But it’s simply a tool, like any other technology we’ve built." Economic concerns also surface, especially given the recent hype around AI startups and fears of a valuation bubble.
Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the underlying technology endured. "We’re focused on building a solid engine first. AI just accelerates our development and lets us dream bigger," he affirmed.
"Whether we’re in a bubble is uncertain, but history shows useful tech survives." Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that too much capital can lead to complacency.
"Startups need to stay scrappy," he laughed. "If you have a million‑person team working on an engine, you won’t get anything done." The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This intentional size allows rapid decision‑making and keeps the project agile. De Jong explained the trade‑off: a complex engine cannot be built by throwing endless resources at it, yet there is a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry.
"We need enough funding and talent to hit that window, but not so much that we lose focus," he said. Immens is currently aiming for a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a full editing workflow powered by generative AI.
The team expects to release the demo within the month, already moving twice as fast as their original timeline projected when they started in April. "Timelines are hard to predict when you’re breaking new ground," Brussee admitted. The business model is still being refined. While Immens admires Epic Games' revenue‑share approach—"we succeed when you succeed"—the founders say it is too early to commit to a specific pricing structure.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will enable a new wave of creative, risk‑taking games. "We love games as an art form and want to see more daring experiences," Brussee concluded. "If our technology helps studios push the boundaries of what’s possible, that would be amazing."