For years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in game creation, together powering roughly 70% of the titles that appeared 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.
Yet three seasoned developers, Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient, have launched Immens with a belief that there is still room for a fresh, more adaptable engine. The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their collective background gives them a unique perspective on why the status quo may be overdue for change.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the tools that existed a couple of years ago simply aren’t enough any more.” He argues that AI‑assisted programming now lets developers start from scratch with far less friction, delivering full‑featured prototypes quickly while retaining tight guidance and control. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stresses that the AI component is not about whimsical prompting but about constructing an engine that is inherently extensible.
“AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he says. “If we design the architecture with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke animation pipeline without being confined to a limited scripting layer.” In practice, this means the engine will expose its internals in a way that AI tools can safely augment, letting creators iterate faster and tailor the system to their exact needs. The motivation behind Immens stems from a bleak outlook on the current games market. Brussee describes it as “rough,” noting that development costs keep climbing, making it harder for small teams to break even.
He asks whether new workflows could shrink budgets, shorten schedules, and reduce risk for studios of all sizes. De Jong, the chief product officer, adds that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation offers a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “We need a different way,” he asserts, calling for a shift from monolithic, one‑size‑fits‑all engines toward flexible platforms that adapt to the developer rather than the other way around.
A key criticism of existing engines is their monolithic nature: developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. De Jong envisions an engine that can be reshaped on the fly.
“You should be able to swap modules, append new tools, and modify the interface to match your workflow,” he explains. He gives a personal example of building a toolset with custom shortcuts, features, and UI elements that perfectly suit his team’s project. This level of personalization, powered by AI assistance, could dramatically lower the barrier to creating niche gameplay experiences.
Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While its power is undeniable, it can “go off the rails” if left unchecked. Immens therefore aims to keep the user in the driver’s seat, providing full transparency into what the engine is doing and a complete history of changes. This repeatability ensures that developers can trust the output and roll back if necessary.
He illustrates the benefit with a hypothetical scenario: generating five distinct characters with specific traits could once have taken weeks of manual work, but with AI‑driven tooling, the same result might be achieved over a coffee break, then discarded after use, saving both time and money. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s architecture. De Jong stresses that the engine does not dictate a particular workflow; instead, it offers a framework that lets users decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
The goal is to make the AI understand the developer’s intent correctly, avoiding the “black‑box” frustrations that sometimes accompany machine‑learning tools. Interoperability is another pillar of the project.
By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, Immens can communicate seamlessly with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, or any generative asset pipeline. “If the files are readable text, the AI can parse and manipulate them,” Brussee notes. This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as isolated islands, hindering smooth data exchange.
The broader industry conversation around AI is polarized. Some commentators predict a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand‑Theft‑Auto‑scale world, fueling fears of “click‑to‑game” shortcuts. Immens’s team, however, views AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human creativity. Valient believes AI will elevate the craft, making developers more capable, while De Jong reminds us that any technology can be misused; the responsibility lies with its users.
Economic anxieties also loom. Critics label the AI boom a bubble, citing inflated valuations and speculative hype. Valient counters that while bubbles burst, the underlying technology endures—just as the internet survived the dot‑com crash. He argues that Immens is focused on building a genuinely useful engine; AI merely accelerates the development cycle and expands creative horizons.
Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments,” but the founders have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The company deliberately stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—believing that a small, focused team can make better decisions and iterate faster.
Currently, Immens is 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 estimate: what was expected to take until year‑end is now arriving roughly twice as fast. As for the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy.
Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will empower creators to push the boundaries of interactive art. “We love games and want to see more risk‑taking and innovation,” says Brussee. “If our technology can help bring more ambitious, creative projects to life, that would be amazing.”