Unity and Unreal have long held sway over the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of all Steam releases projected for 2025. While Godot has enjoyed notable growth recently and some major studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine, for instance—the market has largely been a duopoly. Against this backdrop, three seasoned veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens with the conviction that there is still room for a fresh engine and, more importantly, for a better way to build games.
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 collective background gives them a unique perspective on the pain points that developers face daily. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new engine because "the tools that existed a couple of years ago simply aren’t enough today." He believes AI‑assisted programming can revive the notion of building a game engine from the ground up, offering developers rapid, full‑featured functionality without the massive overhead that traditionally accompanies such projects. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they are integrating is not the flashy, prompt‑to‑output magic 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 a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke rendering pipeline without being limited to a tiny scripting sandbox." The goal is to let creators use AI as a productivity multiplier, accelerating the addition of new features while retaining full control over the code. Brussee paints a bleak picture of the current market: "Making games is getting harder and more expensive. Studios need a way out of this cost spiral, otherwise they risk their livelihoods." He stresses that the industry must discover new, more efficient workflows that enable smaller teams to deliver high‑quality experiences on tighter budgets and shorter schedules. De Jong, Immens’s chief product officer, echoes this sentiment, noting that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While standardisation has provided a solid foundation, the next phase of growth requires genuine innovation, not just incremental improvements. One of the core criticisms De Jong levels at existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers are forced to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which stifles creativity. With AI, Immens aims to flip this model on its head, delivering an engine that adapts to the developer rather than the other way around.
"Flexibility is essential," he says. "You should be able to swap modules, append new tools, and reshape the interface to match your personal workflow. If I need a set of shortcuts tailored to my team’s art pipeline, I can build them directly into the engine." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is "really powerful," it can also veer off course if left unchecked.
To mitigate this risk, Immens is built around transparency: users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and reproduce results reliably. This level of control, he argues, is crucial for creative problem‑solving.
For example, generating five characters with specific traits used to require weeks of manual work; now, a developer could sketch the concept over coffee, let the AI produce the assets, and iterate rapidly, discarding the temporary tools once the job is done. Such on‑demand workflows dramatically lower costs and open up new possibilities for experimentation.
The engine’s architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that the framework is modular, allowing teams to decide how much AI they want to incorporate and where. "You can choose a minimal AI‑assisted pipeline or lean heavily on generative tools," he says. "The key is that the AI must understand the context correctly, which is why we’re focusing on open standards and interoperable file formats." Open standards are another pillar of Immens’s strategy.
By using text‑based, human‑readable files, the engine can interface seamlessly with popular tools like Blender, Maya, or any future generative platform. "When the data is open, the AI can read and manipulate it directly," Brussee explains.
"This eliminates the black‑box nature of many current engines, which often lock you into proprietary pipelines." The broader industry conversation around AI in game development is polarized. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype the notion of "click‑to‑game" experiences, suggesting that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immens’s team tempers such expectations, positioning AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human creativity.
Valient believes that AI will make developers better, not obsolete, and that the technology’s current negative perception stems from its disruptive speed. Economic concerns also loom large. Critics warn that the AI boom may be a bubble, with inflated valuations that could burst. Valient counters that, like the dot‑com era, the underlying technology will endure even if some companies fail.
"We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and expands our imagination," he says. "Whether the market is a bubble is uncertain, but the technology isn’t going away." Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency. The company deliberately remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—because a small, focused team can make critical architectural decisions without the inertia of a massive staff.
Balancing team size with the complexity of building an engine is a delicate act. De Jong explains that throwing a million developers at the problem won’t magically solve it; instead, a tight, iterative process yields better outcomes. At the same time, they must act quickly to capture the window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise.
Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aimed to have this ready by year‑end, but they are already moving twice as fast as anticipated. "Timelines are fluid when you’re breaking new ground," Brussee admits.
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. The ultimate ambition, however, is clear: to empower creators to push the medium forward.
"We love games and the artistic expression they represent," Brussee says. "We hope our technology fuels more creativity, risk‑taking, and innovation in the industry.
That would be amazing."