For many years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the world of game development, powering roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some major studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely settled into a duopoly dominated by the two giants. Enter Immens, a fledgling studio 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 believe there is still space for a fresh engine, and more importantly, for a fundamentally better way to build games. 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 an AI‑augmented engine didn’t make sense," he said. "Now, with AI‑supported programming, we can start from scratch again and get full‑featured tools up and running quickly, under tight guidance and control." Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, is careful to distinguish their approach from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑content” narrative that dominates many AI conversations.
"Our AI isn’t about typing a sentence and watching a game appear," he clarified. "It’s about constructing an engine that is inherently extensible. AI excels at reasoning over large codebases and data sets. If we design the architecture with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system, a bespoke animation pipeline, or any other feature without being confined to a limited scripting layer." The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from the current economic climate of the games sector, which Brussee describes as "rough." Development costs continue to climb, making it increasingly difficult for small teams to survive.
"We need new workflows that reduce expense and speed up production," he argued. "If we can enable creators to build high‑quality experiences with fewer people and tighter budgets, we protect studios from financial ruin." De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that stability has given developers a reliable foundation, it also stifles innovation.
"The industry is at a crossroads," he said. "Continuing to do exactly what we’ve always done won’t solve the challenges we face.
We need a paradigm shift, not just another iteration of the same monolithic tools." One of the biggest pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats, rigid pipelines, and a one‑size‑fits‑all workflow. De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the developer’s will instead of forcing developers to bend to it. "Flexibility is key," he explained.
"You should be able to swap modules, append new functionality, or even craft entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow—down to the exact shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it offers unprecedented power, it can also produce unpredictable results if left unchecked. "We’re building Immens so that the user remains 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 unique trait in minutes instead of weeks—without sacrificing control." Immens’s architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that the framework is meant to be modular, allowing teams to decide how much AI assistance they want and where to apply it. "The AI must understand the context correctly, but the choice of integration is entirely up to the developer," he added. Interoperability is another pillar of the platform.
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 pipelines. "When files are plain text, any program can read and manipulate them," Brussee noted.
"Our engine can ingest those files, apply AI‑driven transformations, and output results that other software can immediately consume. This level of openness is rare among proprietary engines, which often act as closed silos." The conversation around AI in game development is not without controversy. Some commentators on LinkedIn predict a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling fears of a "click‑to‑game" utopia. Immens’s team acknowledges the hype but treats AI as a tool rather than a magic wand.
"Eventually, AI will make every creator better, not replace them," Valient said. "The technology is disruptive, which is why it feels uncomfortable now, but responsible use can drive the industry forward." Economic anxieties also surface, with many questioning whether the AI boom is a bubble. Valient draws a parallel with the dot‑com era, noting that while many startups vanished, the underlying internet survived and thrived. "AI isn’t disappearing; it’s evolving.
Some companies will fail, but those that build genuinely useful products will endure. Our focus is on delivering a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development and inspire bigger dreams.
Whether we’re in a bubble is unknown, but history shows that useful technology outlasts the hype." Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee warns against excessive capital, which can breed complacency. "Startups need to stay scrappy; too much money can make you lazy," he laughed.
The team itself is intentionally lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers. De Jong explains that building an engine is a complex undertaking that does not benefit from a massive headcount. "You need a small, focused group to make deliberate decisions and iterate carefully. At the same time, there’s a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry.
We must balance resources to hit that sweet spot without over‑staffing." Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The timeline has already outpaced initial expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving roughly twice as fast. Brussee admits that predicting exact milestones is challenging given the rapid progress. Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic Games’ philosophy of succeeding when developers succeed, but it remains too early to cement a definitive pricing strategy.
The founders are exploring options that align with their mission of empowering creators rather than extracting maximum profit. Ultimately, the trio hopes their engine will rekindle the spirit of experimentation that defined early video games. "We love games as an art form and want to see more risk‑taking and creativity," Brussee concluded. "If our technology can enable developers to push boundaries and bring fresh experiences to players, that would be amazing."