For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces behind video game creation, accounting for roughly seventy percent of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives such as Godot have begun to gain traction, the majority of large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving Unity and Unreal with a near‑monopoly on the engine market.
Enter three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who have teamed up to launch Immens, a startup that believes there is still room for a fresh, more adaptable engine. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they argue that the status quo is ripe for disruption. 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 enough anymore.” He sees artificial intelligence as the catalyst that can resurrect the notion of building a game engine from the ground up, rather than merely layering features on top of legacy code.
“With AI‑assisted programming, you can start from scratch again and, under strong guidance, get a fully functional system up quickly,” he said. Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are integrating is not the kind of “prompt‑to‑content” wizardry that dominates headlines.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive data sets and understand a codebase better than a human could in a short time,” he noted. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke animation tool without wrestling with opaque scripting layers.” In essence, the AI acts as an intelligent assistant that accelerates extension and customization. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development.
Brussee described the market as “rough,” emphasizing that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for small teams to survive. “We need new ways of working that lower expenses, shrink team sizes, and shorten schedules, so studios aren’t gambling their livelihoods on a single title,” he argued. De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry faces a host of challenges, and merely iterating on existing engines isn’t sufficient. We need genuine breakthroughs, not just more of the same,” he said. He criticized the “monolithic approach” of current engines, where developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines.
With AI, Immens aims to flip that script, offering an engine that molds itself to the creator’s needs. Flexibility is a core principle for Immens.
De Jong illustrated a scenario where a developer can craft tools that match their personal workflow—exact shortcuts, interfaces, and features—without being forced into a one‑size‑fits‑all environment. “You should be able to swap components, append new modules, and modify the engine on the fly,” he explained.
This modularity, combined with AI‑driven assistance, is intended to let creators prototype complex systems—like a set of five characters with unique traits—in minutes rather than weeks. Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can “go off the rails” if left unchecked. Immens therefore embeds transparency and control into the engine: users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure reproducibility. This auditability is meant to keep the creative process predictable while still leveraging AI’s speed.
Another strategic decision is the adoption of open standards. Brussee highlighted that when files are stored in text‑based formats, any tool can read and manipulate them.
By aligning with emerging open standards, Immens hopes to interoperate seamlessly with popular software such as Blender, Maya, and other generative tools. “Instead of being a closed, stubborn outlier, the engine will speak the same language as the rest of the pipeline,” he said.
The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” experiences where a prompt generates a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immens’ team acknowledges that such a vision might eventually be possible, but they stress that AI should be viewed as a tool, not a replacement for human creativity.
“AI makes everyone better, but the art still comes from people,” Valient asserted. Economic concerns also loom.
Critics argue that AI‑centric startups are riding a speculative bubble with inflated valuations. Valient responded by drawing a parallel to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the technology endured. We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and expands what’s imaginable.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing them as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. The company deliberately remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—because building an engine is a complex, nuanced effort that benefits from a focused, agile team. Timing is critical.
De Jong explained the delicate balance between assembling enough talent to meet a looming market window and avoiding the temptation to throw a massive workforce at the problem. “We need a small, dedicated group to make thoughtful decisions, yet we must scale just enough to capture the opportunity presented by AI’s rise,” he said.
Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aimed to have the demo ready by year‑end when they started in April, but they are already moving twice as fast as anticipated.
While exact timelines remain fluid, the progress suggests the technology is maturing quickly. The business model is still under discussion. Brussee expressed admiration for Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” revenue share, but admitted it’s too early to commit to a specific approach. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower creators to push the boundaries of what games can be.
“Games are a complex art form, and we want to see more risk‑taking and creativity,” Brussee concluded. “If our engine can help developers innovate and bring bold new experiences to players, that would be amazing.”