For many years, Unity and Unreal have ruled the game‑development landscape, powering roughly 70 % of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have begun to gain traction, the market remains heavily tilted toward proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example.
In this environment, the dominance of Unity and Unreal seems almost unassailable. Enter Immens, a fledgling studio founded by three seasoned industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑tech heavyweights, with experience at 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 current tools can be improved dramatically.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform. "A few years ago the idea of building a brand‑new engine didn’t make sense," he said. "Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from scratch again and get functional features up much faster, while still keeping tight control over the code base." Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they are integrating is not the kind of generative‑prompt system that dominates headlines. "Our AI isn’t about typing a prompt and watching a game appear," he noted.
"It’s about making the engine itself highly extensible. Because AI can analyse large codebases and data sets, we can design the core so that even a solo developer can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle engine—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers. The goal is to let creators extend the engine quickly and safely." The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from the current economic climate of the games sector, which Brussee describes as "rough." Development costs keep climbing, and smaller studios find it increasingly difficult to break even. "We need new ways of working that lower budgets and shrink team sizes without sacrificing quality," he argued.
"If we can make the pipeline more efficient, studios won’t have to risk everything on a single title." De Jong, Immens’s chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation. "The industry is at a crossroads," he said.
"Continuing to iterate on the same monolithic engines won’t solve the challenges we face. We need a fundamentally different approach that embraces flexibility." One of the pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature: developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs rather than forcing developers to bend to it.
"Imagine being able to swap out components, append new modules, or craft entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow," he explained. "If I need a UI that mirrors my design background, I can build it with the exact shortcuts and interface elements I prefer." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it can accelerate development, it can also produce erratic results if left unchecked.
"We’re building Immens so that the user stays in the driver’s seat," he said. "You can see exactly what the engine is doing, review its decision history, and reproduce results reliably. This transparency lets you create throw‑away tools for specific tasks—like generating five characters with a particular trait in minutes—without incurring the massive cost that such a workflow used to demand." Flexibility is baked into Immens’s architecture. The framework does not dictate a single workflow; instead, it lets teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
"We provide the scaffolding, but you choose how to build on it," De Jong added. "The AI must understand the context correctly, but the ultimate direction is up to the developer." Interoperability is another cornerstone of the platform.
By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens aims to play nicely with the broader ecosystem of tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative‑AI pipelines. "When files are human‑readable, any program can parse them," Brussee said. "That means the AI can manipulate assets directly, and you can plug in third‑party software without wrestling with closed‑source barriers.
This openness is something many existing engines have neglected." The conversation around AI in game development is often charged with hype and fear. Some commentators on LinkedIn claim that future engines will let anyone conjure a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience with a single prompt. Immens’s team tempers those expectations. While they acknowledge the eventual possibility of "click‑to‑game" solutions, they stress that AI should be viewed as a powerful tool rather than a magic wand.
"AI will make everyone better at their craft," Valient said. "It’s disruptive, but that disruption can lead to higher quality games if we use it responsibly." De Jong echoes this sentiment, urging the industry to treat AI as a tool that requires ethical stewardship. "Every technology can be misused," he warned.
"Our responsibility is to guide its application so it enhances creativity rather than undermines it." Beyond creative concerns, there is anxiety about the economic sustainability of the AI boom. Critics warn of a bubble with inflated valuations.
Valient counters that AI is not a fleeting trend. "When the dot‑com bubble burst, the internet didn’t disappear; only the speculative excesses did," he observed. "We’re building a solid engine that stands on its own merits.
Whether the market is in a bubble is uncertain, but good technology tends to survive." Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑funding, noting that too much capital can breed complacency.
"Startups need to stay scrappy; otherwise you lose the edge that drives innovation," he laughed. The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This intentional small size allows rapid decision‑making while avoiding the overhead of a massive team.
De Jong explains the trade‑off: building an engine is complex and cannot be rushed by simply adding manpower, yet there is a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry. Balancing team size, funding, and timing is a central challenge they are navigating. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aims to release the demo within the month, already moving twice as fast as their original timeline projected when they started in April.
Brussee admits that predicting exact milestones is difficult given the rapid pace of development. Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" philosophy but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific approach.
The founders hope that, by delivering a flexible, AI‑enhanced engine, they will attract developers who value creative freedom and cost efficiency. Ultimately, the trio’s ambition is to empower creators to push the boundaries of what games can be. "We love games as an art form and want to see more risk‑taking and innovation," Brussee concluded.
"If our technology can help studios experiment more freely, that would be amazing for the whole industry."