For many years, Unity and Unreal have ruled the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70 % of all Steam releases projected for 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made notable strides, the market remains heavily weighted toward proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example. In this environment, three seasoned veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—believe there is still space for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of today’s dominant tools. The trio’s résumé reads like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Their new venture, Immens, aims to leverage that deep expertise to build a next‑generation platform that integrates artificial intelligence at its core. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “There’s an opportunity now to build an engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.
With AI‑assisted programming, you can start from a clean slate again and get full functionality quickly under guided control.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stresses that the AI they are employing is not the “prompt‑to‑art” hype that dominates headlines. Instead, it is a tool for making the engine itself more extensible.
“AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he said. “If we design the architecture with that in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without being limited to a narrow scripting layer.” This philosophy underpins Immens’s promise to let creators extend the engine faster and with fewer constraints.
The motivation behind this ambitious project is the increasingly hostile economics of game development. Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” noting that production budgets are spiraling upward while the risk of failure grows. “We need new ways of working, more efficient pipelines, and tools that let smaller teams deliver high‑quality experiences without jeopardising their studios,” he argued.
De Jong, the chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. “Standardisation gave us a solid foundation, but the industry now needs innovation, not more of the same,” he said. One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the monolithic nature of existing engines.
Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, which can stifle creativity. By contrast, Immens intends to be a pliable platform that adapts to the user’s needs. “You should be able to swap components, append new modules, or build entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow,” De Jong explained.
He gave an example of tailoring shortcuts, interfaces, and feature sets to fit the exact requirements of a specific project or team. Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While it offers unprecedented power, it can also produce unexpected results if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is being built with transparency and control at its core.
“When you use the engine, you always know what it’s doing, you can trace its history, and you can reproduce results reliably,” he said. This level of oversight is crucial for creative pipelines where a designer might need to generate five characters with a particular trait in minutes—a task that previously could take weeks of manual work. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s architecture.
The team refuses to impose a single workflow, instead offering a framework that lets users decide how much AI assistance they want and where to apply it. “The AI must understand the context correctly, but the choice of when to invoke it stays with the developer,” De Jong noted. This approach also extends to interoperability: Immens will rely on open, text‑based standards so that files can be read and manipulated by any tool.
“If you’re using Blender, Maya, or a generative‑AI plugin, you can plug it in directly because everything speaks the same language,” Brussee added. The broader conversation about AI in games is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn predict a future where a simple prompt can spawn a Grand‑Theft‑Auto‑scale world, fueling fears of a “click‑to‑game” dystopia. Immens’s founders see AI more modestly—as a catalyst that makes developers better, not a replacement for human creativity. “AI has negative connotations now because it’s disrupting at a scale we’ve never seen,” Valient said.
“But it’s just another tool, like any technology before it. Our responsibility is to use it responsibly.” Economic anxieties also linger. Critics warn that AI‑focused startups may be riding a speculative bubble, much like the dot‑com era. Valient counters that while valuations may fluctuate, the underlying technology is here to stay.
“The internet didn’t disappear after the dot‑com bust; the weak companies did. Good products survive, and we’re building a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development and enable bigger dreams.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital raise as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against over‑funding, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed.
The company currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, a deliberate choice to keep the team lean while they tackle the complex task of building an engine. Balancing size and speed is a strategic challenge.
De Jong explains that a massive team does not guarantee success; a focused group can make more thoughtful decisions and iterate faster. Yet they must also seize the narrow window of opportunity presented by the AI wave.
“We need enough resources to hit that sweet spot without throwing everyone at the problem,” he said. Immens is already working on a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing flow, slated for release this month.
The timeline has surprised even the founders. “When we started in April, we thought we’d be at the end of the year,” Brussee recalled. “We’re already twice as fast as expected, which makes it hard to predict exact milestones.” The business model is still taking shape.
While Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, they admit it’s too early to commit to a specific approach. Ultimately, the team hopes their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking and artistic expression. “We love games and want to see more creativity and innovation built on this technology,” Brussee concluded.
“If we can help make that happen, it would be amazing.”