For many years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the world of game development, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been a duopoly dominated by the two giants. Enter Immens, a startup founded by three seasoned industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑engine history, with experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes the status quo still leaves room for a fresh engine that can address the shortcomings of today’s tools.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is now ripe for a new platform, noting that “a few years ago this kind of engine simply didn’t exist.” He points to advances in AI‑assisted programming as a catalyst that could let developers start from scratch again while still retaining tight guidance and control. The goal, he says, is to deliver a fully‑featured system quickly enough to keep pace with modern development cycles.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the “prompt‑to‑content” hype that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. "AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets," he explains.
"If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a unique gameplay mechanic without being limited to a handful of scripts. The AI helps you extend the engine faster, not replace your creative decisions." The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from what Brussee describes as a “rough” market climate. Game production costs keep climbing, making it harder for small teams to survive.
"We need new ways of working, more efficient pipelines that let us build games with fewer people, tighter budgets, and shorter schedules," he says. The traditional model, he warns, threatens the livelihood of many studios. De Jong, Immens’s chief product officer, observes that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that stability provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. "The industry now faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating past methods won’t cut it," he argues. "We need a different approach—innovation, not further standardisation." A key criticism De Jong levels at current engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers must bend to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. By contrast, an AI‑enhanced engine could adapt to the developer’s needs. "Flexibility is essential," he says.
"You should be able to swap components, append new features, and build bespoke tools that match your personal workflow—exact shortcuts, interfaces, and functionality tailored to your project." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is “really powerful,” it can also “go off the rails quickly if you don’t watch it.” Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see exactly what the engine is doing, review its decision history, and reproduce results reliably.
This level of oversight, he says, turns AI into a dependable assistant rather than a mysterious black box. Imagine needing five characters with a specific trait. In a traditional pipeline, that could mean weeks of manual work. With Immens, a developer could sketch the requirement over coffee, let the AI generate the assets, use the result a handful of times, and discard the temporary tool afterward—saving both time and money.
Such on‑demand workflows, Valient argues, are where the real power of AI lies. Immens’s architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow on its users. De Jong stresses that the framework is built to let developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The engine is also built on open standards, meaning text‑based files can be read by any tool.
"If you want to pull data from Blender, Maya, or a generative‑AI service, you can plug it in because everything speaks the same language," Brussee explains. This openness counters the “weird outlier” problem where many engines refuse to interoperate with common industry tools.
The broader AI debate in game development is heated. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype the notion of creating Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences with a single prompt, stoking fear and backlash. Immens’s team sees a future where “click‑to‑game” engines might exist, but they stress that AI should remain a tool, not a replacement for human creativity. "AI will make everyone better, not take over the craft," Valient says.
Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with many fearing a bubble of over‑valued startups. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear, but many over‑hyped companies fell away, leaving the solid ones to thrive. "We’re focused on building a good engine. AI helps us iterate faster and dream bigger.
Whether it’s a bubble or not, we can’t know until it bursts, but we’re building something that stands on its own merits," he notes. Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but haven’t disclosed exact figures, only describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns that excess capital can breed complacency, saying, "Too much money can make you lazy; being scrappy forces you to stay efficient." The company currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, a deliberately lean structure to maintain agility. Balancing team size and ambition is a constant challenge.
"You can’t throw a million developers at an engine and expect it to work," De Jong says. "A small, focused team can make thoughtful decisions, but you also need enough resources to hit the market window created by AI’s rise. It’s a delicate trade‑off we’re navigating." Immens aims to deliver a proof‑of‑concept demo this month that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The timeline has already outpaced their original estimate: what was slated for the end of the year is now arriving in half that time. As for the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will enable developers to push creative boundaries, take risks, and produce games that advance the medium.
"We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expression," Brussee concludes. "If our technology helps spark that innovation, it would be amazing."