For years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed a surge in popularity and some major studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the market has largely been monopolized by the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have decided to challenge the status quo with a fresh offering: Immens, an AI‑enhanced game engine designed to give smaller teams a competitive edge. The trio’s résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development.
Brussee helped build the original Unity engine, De Jong contributed to titles at Guerrilla Games, and Valient has spent time at Epic Games, Apple, and Boss Key. Their combined experience gives them a unique perspective on the limitations of current technology and the opportunities that emerging AI tools present.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine. “A few years ago this idea didn’t exist,” he said.
“Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again while keeping tight control over the process. It lets us deliver full‑featured functionality much faster.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI component is not about generating content with a single prompt. Instead, it focuses on making the engine itself highly extensible. “AI can reason over large codebases and data sets,” he noted.
“If we design the architecture with that capability in mind, even solo developers can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle engine—without being limited to superficial scripting. The AI acts as a catalyst for rapid extension, not as a magic wand.” The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the harsh economic realities facing today’s developers. Brussee described the current climate as “rough.” Development costs are spiraling, and studios are under pressure to deliver ever‑more ambitious experiences with shrinking margins.
“We need new ways of working that cut expenses and allow smaller teams to ship faster,” he argued. “If we can lower the barrier to entry, we reduce the risk to creators and keep studios afloat.” De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine market has entered a phase of “standardisation and consolidation.” While this has produced stable platforms, it has also stifled innovation. “Continuing to iterate on the same monolithic tools won’t solve the industry’s challenges,” he said. “We need a paradigm shift—flexibility, modularity, and AI‑driven adaptability.” One of the pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. Immens aims to flip that script by allowing the engine to adapt to the developer’s workflow. De Jong emphasized the importance of interchangeability: “You should be able to swap components, append new ones, and craft tools that match your exact needs—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set that suit your team’s style.” Valient acknowledged that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While it is incredibly powerful, it can also behave unpredictably if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is built with transparency in mind. “When you use the engine, you always know what it’s doing and why,” he explained.
“Every action is logged, repeatable, and can be audited. This gives creators confidence that the AI is a reliable partner rather than a black box.” The flexibility extends to workflow design. Immersive’s architecture does not enforce a single development approach; instead, it provides a scaffold that teams can shape as they see fit.
De Jong added, “You decide how much AI you want to incorporate and where. The framework is deliberately open so you can tailor it to your project’s rhythm.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens. By embracing open, text‑based standards, the engine can seamlessly exchange data with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline.
“If a file is readable as text, any system can parse it,” Brussee said. “This openness eliminates the siloed nature of many current engines and enables smarter, more fluid pipelines across the entire toolchain.” The conversation around AI in game development is often polarized. Some commentators predict a future where entire AAA experiences can be conjured with a single prompt, a notion that fuels both excitement and fear.
Immens’s team sees AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement. Valient believes that AI will elevate the whole industry: “Big games and indie titles alike will benefit because AI makes every creator more capable.” Economic concerns also linger, with many questioning whether AI is a bubble. Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era, noting that while some companies will fall, the underlying technology will endure. “AI isn’t disappearing; it’s evolving.
Our goal is to build a solid engine that leverages AI to speed up development and enable bigger dreams, regardless of market hype.” Funding remains modest at this stage. Immens has secured its “first commitments,” but the founders have been deliberately vague about the exact amount, describing it as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against over‑capitalisation, noting that excess cash can breed complacency.
“Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “Too much money can make you lazy.” The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This small size is intentional, as De Jong explained that building an engine is a complex, iterative process that benefits from focused decision‑making rather than a massive team. “We have to balance the need for talent with the reality of a narrow window of opportunity created by AI’s rise,” he said.
Immens is currently aiming to deliver a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a full editing workflow powered by generative AI. The team expected this to take until the end of the year, but they are already moving at double that speed.
“Timelines are fluid when you’re breaking new ground,” Brussee admitted. As for the business model, Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but remains non‑committal about specifics until the product matures.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expression,” Brussee concluded.
“If Immens can help make that happen, it would be amazing."