For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces behind game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed notable growth recently and some large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been monopolized by the two giants.
Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched a venture called Immens, convinced that there is still space for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the status quo. The founders bring an impressive résumé: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their combined background fuels confidence that they can challenge the entrenched players. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “There’s an opportunity now to build a new engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.” He believes that AI‑augmented programming can restore the ability to start projects from a clean slate, providing “full functionality fast” while still offering extensive guidance and control.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, stresses that their use of AI differs from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑content” narrative. Instead of merely generating assets, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over large codebases and data sets,” he says. “If we design the engine with that in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can extend it beyond simple scripting.
Want a custom particle system? You can add it directly.” This philosophy positions AI as an accelerator for modification rather than a replacement for human creativity. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development.
Brussee describes the environment as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for studios to stay solvent. He asks, “Can we find new ways of working?
Can we become more efficient, reduce budgets, and still deliver high‑quality experiences?” The answer, according to the team, lies in smarter workflows powered by AI, which can cut down development time and shrink team sizes without sacrificing ambition. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has created a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “We’re at a point where the industry faces many challenges, and simply repeating past methods isn’t enough,” he argues. He calls for a shift from monolithic, one‑size‑fits‑all engines toward flexible tools that adapt to developers’ needs.
Current engines force users to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. With AI, Immens aims to let the engine bend to the creator’s workflow, allowing interchangeable modules, custom shortcuts, and bespoke interfaces tailored to each project.
Valient acknowledges AI’s power but also its volatility. “If you don’t watch it, it can go off the rails quickly,” he warns.
Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its history, and ensure repeatable results. This level of oversight makes it possible to generate, for example, five characters with specific traits in the time it used to take weeks—perhaps even while sipping coffee. Such rapid prototyping, once prohibitively expensive, becomes a routine part of the development cycle. Flexibility is baked into Immens’ core.
De Jong stresses that the engine does not impose a singular workflow; developers decide how much AI to employ and where. The architecture is deliberately open, supporting a range of tools and pipelines.
By adopting open standards and text‑based file formats, Immens ensures interoperability with existing software like Blender, Maya, or other generative tools. “If the files are text, anything can read them,” Brussee explains. “The AI can parse them, manipulate them, and communicate across the ecosystem, which has been a pain point for many closed‑source engines.” The broader community is divided on AI’s role in game creation.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” engines that could produce Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens’ team tempers these expectations, viewing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magic wand. Valient says, “Big games will still be made because AI makes everyone better, not because AI does the work for you.” He stresses responsible usage, noting that any technology can be misused, but the onus is on developers to apply it ethically.
Economic anxieties also swirl around the AI boom, with fears of a bubble and inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, arguing that while many companies will fall, the underlying technology endures.
“AI isn’t going away,” he asserts. “The internet survived its bubble, and the same will happen with AI. Our focus is on building a solid engine; the hype will sort itself out.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments,” but the exact amount is undisclosed and described as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency.
The company intentionally stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to maintain agility and avoid the pitfalls of over‑staffing a complex project. Balancing team size with ambition is a constant challenge. De Jong explains that a game engine is a massive undertaking that cannot be rushed by simply adding personnel.
“You need a small, focused group to make critical decisions and iterate,” he says. Yet there is a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry, so the team must secure enough resources to hit that sweet spot without overextending. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The goal is to release this demo within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced the founders’ original expectations.
“When we started in April, we thought it would take us until year‑end,” Brussee notes. “We’re already twice as fast as anticipated.” The business model is still under discussion. While Immens admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach, it is too early to commit to any specific structure.
The team remains focused on delivering a product that empowers creators, hoping that success will naturally follow. Ultimately, the founders’ vision is simple: to rekindle creativity and risk‑taking in games. “We love games and want to see more complex artistic expressions,” Brussee says.
“If our technology can enable more innovation, that would be amazing.” Immens aims to be the catalyst that lets developers break free from costly, monolithic pipelines, harness AI responsibly, and bring bold new experiences to players worldwide.