For many years the game‑development landscape has been dominated by a duopoly: Unity and Unreal Engine. In 2025 those two platforms were responsible for roughly 70 % of all titles launched on Steam. While the open‑source Godot engine has enjoyed a surge in popularity and some studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market share of Unity and Unreal remains overwhelming. Against that backdrop, three seasoned veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have teamed up to launch a fresh contender called Immens.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, spanning stints at Epic Games (the creator of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes that, despite the entrenched position of the current giants, there is still room for a new engine that addresses the pain points that have accumulated over the 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 building a modern engine from the ground up seemed unrealistic,” he said. “Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from scratch again and get a fully functional system up much more quickly.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the role of artificial intelligence in their product is not the “prompt‑to‑image” gimmick that dominates headlines. Instead, AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
“If we design the engine with AI reasoning in mind, smaller teams or even solo developers can plug in custom features—say, a bespoke particle system—without having to rewrite large sections of core code,” he explained. The goal is to let creators harness AI to accelerate extensions rather than rely on it to generate entire games automatically. The motivation behind Immens is also economic.
Brussee described the current climate as “rough” for developers: production budgets keep climbing, and the risk of failure is rising. “We need new ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and shorten schedules,” he argued. By leveraging AI to automate repetitive tasks and streamline pipelines, Immens aims to make game creation more affordable and less hazardous for small studios.
De Jong, the company’s chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that stability provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating the same processes won’t solve them,” he said. “What we need now is genuine innovation, not more of the same.” One specific criticism De Jong has of existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers must often conform to rigid workflows, proprietary file formats, and fixed toolsets. Immens, by contrast, is being built to be adaptable.
“You should be able to swap components, append new modules, or create entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow,” he noted. He gave an example of tailoring an interface with exact shortcuts and features that suit a particular project’s needs, something that current engines make difficult without extensive scripting.
Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can quickly go off‑track 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 results. This level of oversight is intended to keep the creative process grounded, even as AI handles tasks that would previously have taken weeks.
“Imagine needing five characters with a specific trait. In the past you’d plan, code, and iterate for weeks.
With AI‑assisted tools you can prototype while having breakfast, reuse the workflow a handful of times, and then discard it—saving a huge amount of time and money.” Flexibility is baked into Immens’s design philosophy. De Jong stressed that the engine does not dictate a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The architecture is deliberately modular so that teams can pick and choose the AI components that make sense for their project while preserving the ability to fall back on manual control when needed.
Interoperability is another pillar of the platform. By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens can communicate seamlessly with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines.
Brussee explained that when files are stored in a readable format, the AI can parse and manipulate them directly, enabling smoother integration across the entire production chain. This approach counters the “black‑box” nature of many proprietary engines that resist open standards. The broader industry conversation around AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience from a single prompt. Immens’s founders acknowledge that such a future may eventually be possible, but for now they view AI strictly as a tool that augments human creativity rather than replaces it. Valient summed it up: “AI is making everyone better; it’s a catalyst, not a substitute.” Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many fearing a speculative bubble.
Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies will fall, the underlying technology will persist. “AI isn’t disappearing; the internet didn’t vanish after the bubble burst,” he said. “Our focus is on building a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development, regardless of market hype.” Funding for Immens remains modest at this stage. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency.
“Start‑ups need to stay scrappy; too much money can make you lazy,” he laughed. The team itself is intentionally lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. De Jong explained that building a sophisticated engine does not require a massive workforce; a small, focused group can make better decisions and iterate faster.
However, they also recognize a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry, so they must balance team size, funding, and timing to hit that sweet spot. Immens is currently targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases an AI‑driven editing workflow. The goal is to release this demo within the month, demonstrating how generative AI can streamline the creation of assets and level layouts. Brussee noted that the project, which began in April, is already moving at double the speed originally projected, underscoring the productivity gains they claim AI can deliver.
The business model remains under discussion. While Immens admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, the founders admit it is too early to commit to a specific revenue structure. Their primary ambition is to empower developers to build more ambitious, creative games without the prohibitive costs that currently dominate the market.
In the end, the three veterans hope Immens will become a catalyst for a new wave of artistic risk‑taking in games. “We love games and want to see more daring, expressive experiences,” Brussee said. “If our technology can help studios push boundaries and innovate, that would be amazing.”