For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the de‑facto platforms for creating video games, accounting for roughly 70 % of the titles launched on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large publishers continue to rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been monopolized by the two giants.
Enter Immens, a startup founded by three seasoned veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they argue that the current engine landscape still has room for a fresh contender that can address the shortcomings of existing tools.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “a few years ago this just wasn’t possible.” He believes that AI‑augmented programming now makes it feasible to start building a game engine from the ground up while still providing developers with a high degree of guidance and control. In his view, this combination can deliver a fully functional platform much more quickly than traditional approaches. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the “prompt‑to‑art” gimmick that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
He notes that AI excels at reasoning over large code collections, and if the engine is designed with that capability in mind, even solo developers or small teams can add custom features—such as a bespoke particle system—without being confined to limited scripting layers. This extensibility, he argues, is a core pillar of Immens’s vision. The motivation behind this AI‑centric engine stems from the increasingly hostile economics of game development. Brussee describes the current climate as “rough,” pointing out that production budgets are soaring and the risk of failure is higher than ever.
He asks whether the industry can discover new, more efficient workflows that lower costs, shorten timelines, and allow smaller teams to compete without jeopardising their studios. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become both standardized and consolidated. While this has given developers a solid foundation, it has also stifled innovation.
He argues that the industry now faces a series of challenges that cannot be solved by simply iterating on existing tools; a paradigm shift is required. According to De Jong, many current engines impose a monolithic structure that forces developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. By contrast, an AI‑aware engine could dynamically reshape itself to meet the unique needs of each project. Flexibility, therefore, is a central design goal.
De Jong envisions a system where developers can swap components, append new modules, and craft bespoke interfaces tailored to their personal workflows. He imagines being able to build a custom toolbar with the exact shortcuts, features, and visual layout that his team requires, without fighting against the engine’s default conventions. Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword: it is immensely powerful but can “go off the rails” if left unchecked.
To mitigate this, Immens is building transparency into the engine so users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes. He illustrates the potential impact with a simple example: generating five characters with specific traits used to take weeks of manual work; with AI assistance, a developer could prototype them over a coffee break, reuse the tool for similar tasks, and discard it afterward—dramatically cutting cost and time.
The architecture of Immens deliberately avoids enforcing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that the framework is meant to be adaptable, allowing teams to decide how much AI they wish to incorporate and where it should be applied. However, he also cautions that the AI must be trained to understand the developer’s intent correctly, otherwise it could introduce more friction than benefit.
Interoperability is another priority. 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.
Brussee explains that when files are human‑readable, any AI can parse and manipulate them, enabling seamless data exchange. This openness contrasts with many existing engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering cross‑tool collaboration. The conversation around AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” engines that could generate Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens’s team acknowledges that such a vision may one day be plausible, but for now they treat AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human creativity. Valient believes AI will elevate the quality of both blockbuster titles and indie projects by making creators more capable, even though the technology currently carries a negative stigma due to its disruptive potential. Economic concerns also loom large.
Critics warn that the AI sector may be a bubble with inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet technology persisted and flourished.
He argues that Immens is focused on building a genuinely useful engine; AI simply accelerates development and expands the imagination. Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the team is confident that a solid product will endure regardless of hype cycles. Funding details remain vague. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital sought as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑funding, suggesting that excess cash can breed complacency and diminish the scrappy mindset needed for a startup.
The company currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of contributors, deliberately staying lean to retain agility. Balancing team size and resources is a delicate act.
De Jong notes that building an engine is a complex undertaking that cannot simply be outsourced to a massive workforce; a focused, small team is essential for making thoughtful architectural decisions. At the same time, there is a limited window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry, so they must secure enough funding and talent to capitalize on this moment without over‑extending. Immens is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release this month.
Brussee admits that the original timeline projected a year‑long development, yet they are already moving twice as fast, making precise schedule predictions challenging. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” approach but admits it is too early to commit to a specific revenue strategy.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more artistic risk‑taking and innovation. As Brussee puts it, “We love games, we love complex expressions of the art form, and we want to see more creativity and risk‑taking. Hopefully we can see innovation in games that will be built on this kind of tech. That would be amazing.”