For many years, the game‑development world has been dominated by two heavyweight engines: Unity and Unreal. In fact, by 2025 roughly seventy percent of all titles launched on Steam were built with one of those platforms.
While open‑source alternatives like Godot have begun to gain traction, and large publishers such as Capcom continue to rely on proprietary solutions like the RE Engine, the market has largely settled into a duopoly. Enter Immens, a fledgling studio founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game‑tech powerhouses, spanning Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they argue that there is still space for a fresh engine, and that the next generation of tools should be built with artificial intelligence at its core. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “A few years ago the idea of an AI‑enhanced engine didn’t exist. Now, with AI‑supported programming, we can start building from scratch again while keeping tight guidance and control, delivering full‑featured systems quickly.” Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarified that their use of AI is not about whimsical prompting but about constructing an engine that is inherently extensible. “AI can reason over massive code bases and data sets.
If we design our architecture with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or any other subsystem without being confined to a limited scripting layer,” he said. The goal is to let creators harness AI to accelerate extensions, rather than to replace human design decisions.
The motivation behind Immens stems from what Brussee describes as a “rough” market climate. Game development costs are spiralling, and smaller studios face ever‑higher financial risk. “We need new ways of working that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and speed up delivery,” he argued.
The trio believes that by rethinking the development pipeline—leveraging AI to automate repetitive tasks and streamline iteration—they can break the cycle of ever‑increasing budgets. De Jong, the company’s chief product officer, warned that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a solid foundation, it also breeds complacency.
“The industry now confronts a series of challenges, and merely repeating old methods won’t solve them. We need genuine innovation, not more of the same,” he asserted. A key criticism of current engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, often spending valuable time wrestling with the engine rather than creating content.
De Jong envisions an AI‑driven engine that flexes to the developer’s needs: “You should be able to swap modules, append new features, and craft bespoke tools that match your exact workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require.” Valient acknowledges that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. “We’re building Immens so that users stay in the driver’s seat.
You always know what the engine is doing, you can trace its history, and you can reproduce results reliably.” He illustrated this with a hypothetical scenario: creating five characters with a specific trait used to take weeks of planning; with AI‑assisted tools, a developer could sketch the concept over coffee, generate the assets, reuse the tool a handful of times, and discard it—all at a fraction of the traditional cost. Flexibility is baked into Immens’ architecture.
The engine does not impose a single workflow; instead, it offers a framework that lets teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where. “The AI must understand the context correctly, but the choice of when and how to apply it remains with the developer,” De Jong said.
Interoperability is another pillar of the design. By relying on open, text‑based standards, Immens aims to play nicely with the broader ecosystem—Blender, Maya, other generative tools, and custom pipelines. “When files are plain text, any tool can read them. The AI can parse and manipulate those files, opening a pathway for smarter, more seamless integration,” Brussee explained.
This openness counters the tendency of many engines to become closed ecosystems that hinder cross‑tool collaboration. The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized. Some commentators on platforms like LinkedIn hype “click‑to‑game” engines that could generate Grand‑Theft‑Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt.
Immens’ founders temper such hype, positioning AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magical shortcut. “AI will make everyone better, but it remains a tool,” Valient noted, emphasizing responsible usage.
Economic anxieties also swirl around the AI boom, with fears of a valuation bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear after the bubble burst; many companies fell away, but the technology endured. We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our vision.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its first round of commitments but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital raise as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excessive cash: “Too much money can breed complacency. Startups need to stay scrappy.” The team currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, intentionally keeping the operation lean to maintain agility.
Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act. De Jong explains that a game engine is a complex undertaking that cannot be solved by simply throwing a million engineers at it. “A small, focused group can iterate, make hard decisions, and refine the architecture.
Yet we must also seize the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise, securing enough resources to hit that sweet spot without over‑building.” Immens is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing flow. The prototype is slated for release within the month, a timeline that already outpaces their original end‑of‑year estimate. “We’re moving twice as fast as we thought we would,” Brussee said, underscoring the speed gains that AI can unlock.
The business model is still under discussion. While the team admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, they admit it’s too early to commit to a specific revenue structure. Ultimately, Brussee hopes Immens will empower creators to push the medium forward. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expression.
If our technology can spark risk‑taking and innovation, that would be amazing.”