For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces shaping game development, accounting for roughly 70% of all Steam releases projected for 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction, and some studios such as Capcom continue to rely on proprietary solutions like the RE Engine, the market has largely settled into a duopoly.
Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens, a startup that believes there is still room for a fresh, more adaptable engine. The founders bring an impressive résumé: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new platform, noting that "a few years ago the kind of engine we’re envisioning simply didn’t exist." He sees AI‑assisted programming as a catalyst that can let developers start from a clean slate and achieve full‑featured results much faster than traditional pipelines.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI component is not about generating content through cryptic prompts, but rather about constructing an engine that is inherently extensible. "AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets," he explains. "If we design the architecture with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system, a bespoke animation controller, or any other feature without being confined to a limited scripting layer." This philosophy aims to empower creators to iterate quickly, using AI as a productivity booster rather than a replacement for human ingenuity. The motivation behind Immens stems from the increasingly hostile economics of game production.
Brussee describes the current climate as "rough," emphasizing that development costs are spiraling upward, making it harder for small teams to survive. He asks whether new workflows can break the cycle of ever‑larger budgets and longer timelines, allowing studios to deliver quality experiences without jeopardizing their financial stability. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a solid foundation, he argues that the industry now needs genuine innovation, not just incremental improvements. He criticizes the "monolithic approach" of existing engines, where developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid toolchains. With AI, De Jong envisions an engine that molds itself around the developer’s needs, offering interchangeable modules, customizable interfaces, and the ability to craft personal shortcuts that match each creator’s workflow.
Valient acknowledges AI’s double‑edged nature. The technology is undeniably powerful, yet it can "go off the rails" if left unchecked.
To mitigate this risk, Immens is built to keep the user in full control: every AI‑driven action is logged, repeatable, and transparent. This auditability means a designer can generate five unique characters in a coffee break, reuse the tool for subsequent tasks, and discard it when it’s no longer needed—something that would have previously required weeks of manual labor.
Flexibility is a core tenet of Immens. De Jong stresses that the engine does not enforce a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
The architecture is deliberately open, supporting text‑based file formats that any tool can read. "When files are plain text, the AI can parse them, manipulate them, and hand them off to other software," Brussee notes. This openness facilitates seamless integration with industry staples such as Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline, fostering a more collaborative ecosystem than the often‑isolated proprietary engines of today. The broader community remains divided on AI’s role in game creation.
Some commentators sensationalize the notion of "click‑to‑game" engines that could conjure a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience from a single prompt. Immens’ team tempers such hype, insisting that AI should be viewed as a tool that amplifies human talent rather than a magical shortcut.
Valient believes AI will ultimately make developers better, even if it currently carries a negative stigma due to its disruptive speed. Economic concerns also surface, with critics warning of an AI bubble inflated by lofty valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, arguing that while many startups will fade, the underlying technology endures.
"AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming the infrastructure that lets us dream bigger and build faster," he says. Immens aims to focus on delivering a high‑quality engine, using AI to accelerate development without relying on speculative hype. Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee warns against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency.
The company deliberately stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to retain agility and avoid the pitfalls of over‑staffing a complex project. Balancing resources and timelines is a delicate act. De Jong explains that building an engine is a monumental task that cannot be solved by simply adding a million engineers.
Instead, a small, focused team must iterate, make hard decisions, and learn from each milestone. The team believes they are currently in a narrow window of opportunity, driven by rapid AI advancements and shifting industry expectations.
Immens is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release within the month. The timeline has already outpaced initial estimates—what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving roughly twice as fast. While the ultimate business model remains under discussion, Brussee appreciates Epic Games' "we succeed when you succeed" licensing philosophy, though he admits it’s too early for concrete commitments.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will catalyze a new wave of creativity, risk‑taking, and artistic expression in games. "We love games and want to see more daring, innovative experiences," Brussee concludes. "If our technology can help developers push the boundaries of what’s possible, that would be amazing."