For years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the world of game creation, together accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have begun to gain traction, and a handful of studios still rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly dominated by the two giants.
Enter Immens, a startup founded by three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh, more adaptable engine. Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, Apple, and other high‑profile studios. Together they aim to challenge the status quo and give developers a new set of tools built around artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the opportunities that didn’t exist a couple of years ago are now within reach.” He highlighted AI‑assisted programming as a catalyst that could let creators start from a clean slate and assemble functional systems much more quickly than traditional pipelines allow.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are integrating is not the sort of “prompt‑to‑content” magic that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “If we design the code base with AI in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without wrestling with opaque scripting layers,” he said. The goal is to let users harness AI to accelerate extensions, not to replace the creative process entirely.
The motivation behind Immens is also economic. Brussee described the current climate as “rough” for developers, noting that production budgets keep inflating and the risk of financial ruin grows with each new title. “We need new ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and speed up delivery,” he argued. By cutting waste and leveraging AI to automate repetitive tasks, Immens hopes to make game development a more sustainable profession.
De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry faces a range of challenges, and simply iterating on the same monolithic tools won’t solve them,” he said. “We need a different approach—one that embraces flexibility and modularity.” One of the frustrations with existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the developer’s will, allowing them to swap components, append new features, and craft custom interfaces tailored to their specific project needs. “I can build tools that match my own shortcuts, UI preferences, and workflow quirks, and my team can do the same,” he explained. Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can behave unpredictably if left unchecked.
Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see exactly what the engine is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes. This level of oversight is crucial when AI is used to generate assets or automate content pipelines, where a stray error could cascade into costly rework. The flexibility of Immens extends to its underlying standards. Brussee stressed the importance of open, text‑based file formats that any tool can read.
By adopting open standards, the engine can interoperate seamlessly with popular software such as Blender, Maya, or other generative tools. “When everything speaks the same language, you can plug in a new renderer or a procedural asset generator without fighting the engine,” he said.
This openness contrasts with many commercial engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering cross‑tool collaboration. There is a vocal backlash against AI in game development, often fueled by sensational claims that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’s team acknowledges the hype but insists their technology is a facilitator, not a replacement for human creativity.
“AI will make every developer better, not replace them,” Valient noted. He likened the current debate to the early internet era, where skepticism gave way to transformative growth. Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with some critics labeling the sector a bubble.
Valient dismissed the notion that AI will simply vanish, comparing it to the dot‑com boom: “The internet didn’t disappear; many companies fell, but the technology endured.” Immens is focused on building a solid engine first, using AI to accelerate development and inspire bigger dreams, regardless of market speculation. Funding remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency.
Immens deliberately stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to retain agility and avoid the pitfalls of a bloated startup. Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act. De Jong explained that building an engine is a complex, long‑term endeavor that cannot be solved by throwing a million engineers at the problem. Instead, a small, focused group must iterate, make hard decisions, and refine the architecture.
At the same time, they must act quickly enough to capture the window of opportunity presented by AI’s rapid adoption. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month.
The team’s timeline has already outpaced their original estimate—what they thought would take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. When asked about the business model, Brussee said they admire Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admitted it’s too early to lock in specifics. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will enable creators to push artistic boundaries, take risks, and deliver innovative experiences that move the medium forward.
“We love games and want to see more creativity and risk‑taking,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing."