For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, powering roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed a surge in popularity and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the market has largely been a duopoly. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens, a startup that believes there is still room for a fresh engine and, more importantly, for a better way to build games. The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development.
Brussee spent years at Epic Games, the creator of Unreal, and later helped shape titles at Guerrilla Games and Apple. De Jong has a background in leading product teams at Boss Key and other high‑profile studios, while Valient brings deep technical expertise from his tenure as a chief technology officer at several cutting‑edge projects.
Together they see an opportunity that didn’t exist just a few years ago: an engine that leverages AI not as a gimmick, but as a foundational design principle. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right because AI‑assisted programming now makes it feasible to rebuild core tools from the ground up. “With AI‑supported programming, you can start making things from scratch again,” he said.
“Under a lot of guidance and control, you can build something that brings full functionality quickly.” Valient clarified that Immens’ AI is not about generating assets with a single prompt. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
“The AI can reason about large amounts of data and the code very well,” he noted. “If we design the engine with that in mind, even small teams or solo developers can extend it beyond simple scripting. They can add a custom particle system, a new rendering pipeline, or any bespoke feature they need.” This approach aims to let creators use AI as a rapid‑prototyping assistant, accelerating iteration without sacrificing ownership of the final product.
The motivation behind Immens is also economic. Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” with development budgets inflating and the risk of failure climbing. “Games are getting ever more expensive,” he warned. “We need new ways of working that lower costs, let smaller teams ship faster, and protect studios from existential risk.” De Jong echoed this sentiment, saying the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While standardization provides a solid base, the industry now needs genuine innovation, not just another iteration of the same monolithic tools. One of the pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. De Jong envisions an engine that adapts to the user instead of forcing users to adapt to it. “It needs to be very flexible,” he said.
“You should be able to interchange, append, modify, and create your own tools that match exactly what you and your team need—right down to shortcuts, UI layout, and workflow logic.” Valient cautioned that AI, while powerful, can “go off the rails” if not carefully supervised. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see the engine’s decision history, ensuring repeatability and the ability to audit AI‑generated changes. This level of oversight allows developers to craft bespoke tools for specific tasks—like generating five characters with a unique trait—in a matter of minutes rather than weeks, dramatically cutting costs.
Flexibility is baked into Immens’ core philosophy. The engine does not impose a single workflow; instead, it offers a modular framework where developers decide how much AI to integrate and where. De Jong stressed that the architecture is deliberately open, allowing teams to plug in external software such as Blender, Maya, or other generative tools via open standards. “When files are text‑based, anything can read them,” Brussee explained.
“The AI can parse those files, and open standards let us build smarter interfaces that communicate seamlessly across the toolchain.” This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering interoperability. The broader conversation about AI in games is polarized.
Some commentators predict a future where a single prompt can produce a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling fears of “click‑to‑game” shortcuts. Immens’ team acknowledges that such extremes are possible but insists their vision is to treat AI as a tool that amplifies human creativity, not replaces it. “Big games and everything in between will be made better because AI makes everybody better,” Valient said. “It has negative connotations now because it’s disrupting at a scale we haven’t seen before, but it’s ultimately a responsibility to use it wisely.” Economic anxieties also linger, with many questioning whether AI‑driven game tech is a bubble.
Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear, but many over‑hyped companies fell away, leaving only the robust, valuable ones. Immens aims to be one of those lasting products, focusing on building a solid engine first and letting AI accelerate development. Funding remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency.
The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explained that engine development is complex and cannot be tackled by a massive team; a small, focused group can make critical decisions faster and stay agile during the window of opportunity created by AI’s rise. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release this month.
The timeline has already outpaced their original expectations: what they thought would take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. While the ultimate business model is still under discussion, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” approach but says it’s too early to commit.
Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more artistic risk‑taking and innovation. “We love games and want to see more complex expressions of the art form,” Brussee concluded.
“If our tech can help make that happen, that would be amazing.”