For years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the world of game creation, accounting for roughly seventy percent of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made noticeable strides, most large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving the market firmly in the hands of the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens, a start‑up that believes there is still room for a fresh engine and, more importantly, for a new way of building games.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they aim to challenge the status quo and offer developers an alternative that leverages artificial intelligence in a practical, extensible manner.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the tools that existed a few years ago simply aren’t sufficient anymore.” He argues that AI‑assisted programming now makes it possible to start projects from a clean slate without the massive overhead that traditionally accompanied engine development. “With the right guidance and control, you can build something that delivers full functionality quickly,” he said.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the company’s use of AI is not about the flashy “prompt‑to‑image” hype that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is embedded in the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “AI can reason over large amounts of data and source code,” he explained. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke physics module without wrestling with opaque scripting layers.” This approach, he believes, will let smaller teams extend the engine far beyond what current monolithic solutions allow.
The motivation for Immens is also rooted in the harsh economic realities facing developers today. Brussee described the current market as “rough,” noting that production budgets are ballooning and the risk of failure is higher than ever.
“We need new ways of working that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he said. “If we can achieve that, studios won’t have to gamble their entire livelihood on a single title.” De Jong, the chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, observing that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While standardisation has provided a solid foundation, it has also stifled innovation. “The industry is confronting a series of challenges, and simply repeating the old playbook won’t solve them,” he warned.
“What we need now is genuine innovation, not another layer of standardisation.” One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which can hinder creativity. By contrast, an AI‑aware engine could adapt to the developer’s workflow. “Flexibility is key,” he said.
“You should be able to swap components, append new features, or build entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow—down to the exact shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require.” Valient also cautioned that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. “We are building Immens so that the user remains in full control,” he asserted.
“You can see exactly what the engine is doing, trace its decision‑making history, and ensure reproducibility. This transparency lets you create throw‑away tools for specific tasks—like generating five characters with a unique trait—in minutes rather than weeks, dramatically reducing cost.” Immens’s philosophy is to avoid imposing a single workflow on its users.
De Jong emphasized that the framework is deliberately agnostic: “It’s up to you how much AI you want to incorporate and where you place it in your pipeline. Our job is to make sure the underlying architecture can support those choices while keeping the AI’s understanding of the project accurate.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of the platform. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, Immens aims to play nicely with the broader ecosystem of tools such as Blender, Maya, and other generative software. “When files are human‑readable, any tool can ingest them,” Brussee noted.
“The AI can parse those files and act on them, which opens the door to smarter interfaces across the entire development stack.” This openness, he believes, addresses a long‑standing grievance that many engines act as closed ecosystems that resist integration. The conversation around AI in game development is not without controversy. Some commentators on LinkedIn and elsewhere warn that AI could enable “click‑to‑game” scenarios where a simple prompt produces a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’s team acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a tool rather than a magic wand.
Valient said, “Big games and everything in between will benefit because AI makes every creator better. The current negative perception stems from the sheer scale of disruption we’re witnessing.” De Jong added, “AI is a tool, like any other technology. It can be misused, but it’s our responsibility to guide its application toward positive outcomes.” Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many fearing a bubble of over‑valued startups.
Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear after the bubble burst; many companies fell away, but the technology persisted. We’re focused on building a solid engine first—AI simply accelerates our development and expands what’s possible.” Funding for Immens remains modest.
The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. “Start‑ups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed.
“A lean team forces you to make hard decisions and iterate quickly.” Indeed, Immens is currently a very small operation—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This deliberate minimalism reflects their belief that engine development does not scale linearly with headcount.
“You can’t throw a million engineers at an engine and expect it to magically work,” De Jong said. “You need a focused team that can make thoughtful architectural choices and iterate over time.” At the same time, they recognize a narrow window of opportunity created by the convergence of AI advances and industry fatigue with existing tools.
Balancing sufficient resources to seize that window while avoiding over‑staffing is a core strategic challenge. The team is already working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
They aim to release this demo within the month, a timeline that Brussee says is already twice as fast as initially projected when they started in April. “We’re moving faster than we expected, which makes it hard to set firm deadlines,” he admitted. Regarding the business model, Immens is still exploring options.
Brussee expressed admiration for Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” revenue share, but emphasized that it’s too early to commit to a specific approach. The ultimate goal, he said, is to empower creators to push the medium forward.
“We love games and the complex artistic expression they enable. We want to see more risk‑taking, more creativity, and more innovation built on technology like ours.
If we can help make that happen, it would be amazing.”