For more than a decade, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, together accounting for roughly 70% of all titles launched on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction and some studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the market has largely been a duopoly dominated by the two giants. Enter Immens, a fledgling engine project founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development, with stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine that not only competes on performance but also reimagines how developers build games. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform because the technological landscape has shifted dramatically in the past few years. "There’s an opportunity now to build an engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago," he said.
"With AI‑assisted programming, you can start from a clean slate again and get full‑featured functionality much faster under guided control." Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the flashy, prompt‑to‑image style that dominates headlines. Instead, their AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. "AI can reason over large codebases and data sets," he noted. "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.
The goal is to let creators extend the engine quickly and safely." The motivation behind this AI‑centric approach stems from the harsh economic realities of modern game development. Brussee described the current climate as "rough," emphasizing that production costs keep climbing while budgets shrink. "It’s getting harder to break even," he warned. "We need new workflows that lower costs, let smaller teams ship faster, and reduce the financial risk that threatens studios and livelihoods." De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation provides a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation. "The industry faces a suite of challenges, and simply repeating old methods won’t solve them," he argued. "We need a different paradigm—one that embraces flexibility rather than imposing a monolithic, one‑size‑fits‑all solution." Current engines often force developers to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. De Jong envisions an engine that adapts to the user instead of the other way around.
"You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and reshape the workflow to match your team’s unique needs," he said. "Imagine building a custom UI that mirrors your personal shortcuts, features, and interface preferences—everything tailored to the project at hand." Valient also cautioned that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: developers can see exactly what the engine is doing, track its decision history, and reproduce results reliably.
This level of oversight is crucial for creative pipelines where a designer might need to generate five characters with specific traits in minutes rather than weeks. "What used to cost a small studio a fortune can now be prototyped over a coffee break," Valient asserted, highlighting the potential for rapid iteration without sacrificing quality.
Flexibility is baked into Immens’s core philosophy. De Jong stressed that the platform does not dictate a particular workflow; instead, it offers a modular architecture that lets teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where. "The framework is set up so you can choose your level of automation while ensuring the AI understands the context correctly," he explained.
Interoperability is another pillar of the project. By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens aims to play nicely with existing tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines.
"When files are human‑readable, any system can ingest them," Brussee said. "Our engine can parse those files, manipulate them, and communicate through open standards, eliminating the isolation that many proprietary engines suffer from." The broader industry reaction to AI in game development is mixed. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype a future where a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling both excitement and backlash.
Immens’s founders acknowledge the hype but view AI primarily as an augmentative tool rather than a magic wand. "One day we might see 'click‑to‑game' solutions, but for now we see AI as a way to make developers better," Valient remarked. Economic concerns also linger, especially regarding the perceived AI bubble. Valient drew parallels to the dot‑com era, noting that while many startups vanished, the underlying internet persisted and thrived.
"AI isn’t going away," he said. "Our focus is on building a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development, not on chasing inflated valuations." Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee warned against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency.
"Startups need to stay scrappy," he laughed. The team itself is intentionally lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. De Jong explained that engine development is complex and cannot be rushed by throwing a massive crew at it. "You need a small, focused group to make deliberate decisions and iterate wisely," he said.
"At the same time, we must seize the current window of opportunity created by AI advancements, balancing resources without over‑extending." 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 Brussee admits is ahead of their original schedule. "We aimed for the end of the year when we started in April, and we’re already twice as fast as expected," he noted.
Business‑model discussions are still in their infancy. While Immens admires Epic Games’ revenue‑share approach—"we succeed when you succeed"—they have not committed to any specific model yet. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the artistic and technical boundaries of games.
"We love games and want to see more daring, creative projects," Brussee concluded. "If our technology helps studios take bigger risks and innovate, that would be amazing."