For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of all Steam releases projected for 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have gained traction and some studios cling to proprietary tools—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the market has largely been a duopoly.
Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry figures—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have banded together to launch Immens, a next‑generation, AI‑enhanced game engine they believe can carve out a meaningful niche. The trio’s résumés read like a who‑is‑who of modern game development.
Brussee helped shape the original Quake engine and later co‑founded Guerrilla Games, De Jong has deep roots in Epic Games and the Unreal ecosystem, and Valient brings experience from Apple and several high‑profile studios. Their collective expertise gives them a unique perspective on the shortcomings of today’s mainstream engines and the opportunities that new technology can unlock. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a fresh engine. "A few years ago the idea of an AI‑assisted workflow simply didn’t exist at scale," he explained.
"Now, with sophisticated code‑generation models and smarter tooling, we can start from a clean slate and deliver full‑featured functionality much more quickly." Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that their use of AI differs from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑asset” narrative that circulates on social media. "We’re not trying to conjure entire games with a single sentence," he said. "Our AI is baked into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. Because the models can reason about large codebases, we can design the engine so that even a solo developer can add a custom particle system, a novel physics module, or any other feature without wrestling with opaque scripting layers." The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures facing developers.
Brussee described the market as "rough" and warned that production costs are spiralling. "Games are becoming more expensive to make, and the risk to studios is growing. We need new ways of working that lower the barrier to entry, reduce budgets, and let smaller teams ship high‑quality experiences faster," he asserted.
De Jong, the company’s chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, noting that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
"The industry is at a crossroads. Continuing to rely on the same monolithic tools won’t solve the challenges of rising costs and talent shortages. We need a paradigm shift—flexibility, modularity, and AI‑driven assistance—to move forward." One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the "monolithic approach" of existing engines. Developers often must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which can hinder creativity.
With AI integration, Immens aims to become an engine that adapts to the user rather than forcing users to adapt to it. "You should be able to swap components, append new systems, and craft bespoke tools that match your workflow," he said. "Imagine a designer who can build a custom UI panel with the exact shortcuts and layout they prefer, then share it across the team instantly." Valient acknowledged that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While powerful, it can produce unexpected results if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is being built with transparency and control at its core. "When you use our engine, you always know what the AI is doing, why it made a decision, and you can reproduce the outcome.
This auditability is essential for reliable, repeatable development." The team also emphasized the potential for rapid prototyping. Tasks that once required weeks of manual work—such as generating a set of characters with specific traits—could now be accomplished in a single coffee break.
"You can spin up a tool, run it five times, and discard it, all without breaking the bank. That kind of iterative freedom is transformative," Valient noted.
Flexibility extends beyond workflow. Immersive is committed to open standards, ensuring seamless interoperability with tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines.
Brussee explained, "When files are text‑based and follow open specifications, any program can read and manipulate them. Our AI can ingest those files, understand them, and act on them. This openness eliminates the isolation that many proprietary engines enforce and fosters a more collaborative ecosystem." The conversation around AI in game development is polarized. Some commentators on platforms like LinkedIn hype the notion of "click‑to‑game" experiences, suggesting that a single prompt could produce a Grand Theft Auto‑scale title.
Immens’s founders caution against such sensationalism. While they see a future where highly automated tools lower the barrier to entry, they view AI primarily as an enhancer rather than a replacement for human creativity. "AI makes everyone better, not a substitute for designers," Valient asserted.
"It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused, but it also has the power to unlock new artistic possibilities." Economic concerns also loom large. Critics warn that AI‑focused startups may be inflating a bubble reminiscent of the dot‑com era. Valient responded that while valuations can be speculative, the underlying technology is unlikely to disappear.
"The internet didn’t vanish after the dot‑com crash; the companies that built real value survived. We’re focusing on building a genuinely useful engine, and AI simply accelerates our development. Whether the market is a bubble is uncertain, but the technology’s momentum is undeniable." Funding remains modest. Immens has secured initial commitments but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee warned that excessive capital can breed complacency.
"Startups need to stay scrappy; too much money can make you lazy," he laughed. The company’s size reflects this philosophy: only the three founders and a handful of helpers are currently involved. De Jong explained the trade‑off between team size and speed.
"You can’t throw a million engineers at an engine and expect it to materialize instantly. A focused, small team can make deliberate decisions and iterate quickly, which is crucial given the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise." Immens is now targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a full editing workflow powered by generative AI, slated for release later this month. Brussee noted that the project’s timeline has already outpaced their original expectations, moving twice as fast as anticipated. Regarding business models, the team admires Epic Games’ revenue‑share approach—"we succeed when you succeed"—but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy.
Ultimately, Brussee hopes Immens will enable creators to push the medium forward. "We love games as an art form and want to see more risk‑taking, more innovation. If our technology can help developers bring bold, creative visions to life, that would be amazing."