For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces behind the majority of games on platforms like Steam—accounting for roughly 70 % of releases in 2025. While open‑source alternatives such as Godot have begun to gain traction, most large studios still cling to proprietary solutions, with companies like Capcom relying on its in‑house RE Engine. The market, therefore, has seemed locked into a duopoly. Enter three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still space for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the status quo.
Their new venture, Immens, is built around an AI‑augmented workflow that aims to lower costs, speed up iteration, and give smaller teams the flexibility that current monolithic tools often deny. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the technology that didn’t exist a couple of years ago is now mature enough to be useful.” He argues that AI‑supported programming can let developers start from a clean slate, offering “full functionality fast” while still keeping the developer in the driver’s seat. Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, stresses that the AI component is not about generating assets with a single prompt.
Instead, it is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “AI can reason over large codebases and data sets,” he says. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo creators or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers.” This approach, he believes, will let developers extend the engine quickly and safely, using AI as a productivity multiplier rather than a black‑box creator.
The motivation behind Immens is also economic. Brussee describes the current climate as “rough”: development budgets keep inflating, making it harder for independent studios to survive.
He asks whether the industry can find new, more efficient ways of working that reduce risk and allow games to be built with fewer people and tighter timelines. De Jong, the chief product officer, echoes this sentiment, noting that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. “We need innovation, not just more of the same,” he says, arguing that a flexible, AI‑ready engine could break the cycle of ever‑growing costs.
One of the pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, often spending weeks building tools that merely replicate what the engine already does. De Jong envisions an engine that can be reshaped to fit each project’s unique workflow: “You can interchange, append, modify, and create your own tools with the exact shortcuts, features, and interfaces your team needs.” Valient acknowledges AI’s limits, warning that the technology can “go off the rails” if left unchecked.
To mitigate this, Immens is being built with transparency and control at its core. Users will be able to see the history of AI‑driven actions, ensuring repeatability and allowing them to roll back or adjust as needed. This level of oversight, he argues, turns AI from a mysterious black box into a reliable assistant that can, for example, generate a set of five characters with specific traits in minutes—a task that previously might have taken weeks of manual work. Flexibility is a design pillar for Immens.
The engine does not impose a single workflow; instead, it offers a modular architecture where developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. De Jong stresses that the framework must be open enough to let creators choose their own processes while still providing a solid foundation for stability.
Interoperability is another focus. By embracing open, text‑based standards, Immens aims to play nicely with tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines. Brussee points out that “if files are text‑based, anything can read them,” enabling AI to parse and manipulate assets seamlessly.
This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as isolated ecosystems, making it difficult to integrate third‑party software. The broader conversation about AI in game development is heated.
Some pundits on LinkedIn predict a future where entire open‑world experiences can be conjured with a single prompt, sparking fears of a “click‑to‑game” apocalypse. Immens’ team acknowledges the hype but positions AI as a tool rather than a replacement.
Valient believes AI will make developers better, not obsolete, and stresses the responsibility of the industry to use the technology ethically. Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many questioning whether the current surge is a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many startups will fail, the underlying technology—here, the internet and now AI—remains. He argues that Immens is focused on building a genuinely good engine; AI simply accelerates the development process and expands creative possibilities. Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency.
The company remains a lean operation: the three founders plus a handful of helpers, intentionally keeping the team small to stay agile and scrappy. Immens is currently working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release this month. The timeline has already outpaced initial expectations—what was projected to take a year is now on track for a few months—demonstrating the speed gains the team hopes AI can deliver. When asked about the business model, Brussee says Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to define pricing or licensing structures.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push artistic boundaries, take risks, and innovate in ways that current tools stifle. In short, Immens aims to combine the experience of three seasoned veterans with the transformative potential of AI, delivering a flexible, open, and cost‑effective engine that could reshape how games are built—especially for the smaller studios that have long felt squeezed by the dominance of Unity and Unreal.