For years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of all Steam releases slated for 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have made notable strides, most major studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving the market effectively locked in by the two giants. Enter Immens, a fledgling venture founded by three seasoned veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they see a clear opening for a fresh engine that not only competes with the incumbents but also addresses the pain points that have begun to surface as development costs soar.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that “the opportunity exists now to build an engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.” He believes AI‑assisted programming can revive the notion of building a game from the ground up without the heavy scaffolding that currently slows teams down. “With guided AI support you can start from scratch again and get full‑featured functionality quickly,” he explained. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they are integrating is not the kind that generates content from 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 said. “If we design the engine with that in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer.” This extensibility, powered by AI, is intended to accelerate iteration and reduce the technical debt that often hampers indie projects. 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 keep inflating while the margin for error shrinks.
“We need new ways of working that lower costs and let smaller teams ship faster,” he asserted. The goal is to break the cycle where developers risk everything on a single, massive title.
De Jong, Immens’s chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry faces many challenges, and repeating the same old processes isn’t the answer,” he said. “We need genuine innovation, not just more of the same.” He criticizes the monolithic nature of existing engines, where developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, De Jong envisions an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs, offering interchangeable modules, custom tools, and personalized interfaces tailored to each project. Valient acknowledges AI’s double‑edged sword: it is immensely powerful but can quickly veer off course if left unchecked.
To mitigate this, Immens is building transparency into the system. Users will be able to see exactly what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes.
This control allows developers to create one‑off tools for specific tasks—such as generating five uniquely‑behaved characters in minutes rather than weeks—without sacrificing reliability. Flexibility is a core tenet of Immens’s design philosophy. De Jong emphasizes that the engine does not enforce a single workflow; instead, it provides a framework that lets creators decide how much AI to incorporate and where. “The architecture is open enough for you to pick and choose,” he said, “but we also need the AI to understand the context correctly.” Interoperability is another priority.
By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens aims to play nicely with the broader ecosystem of tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines. Brussee explains that when files are human‑readable, any AI can parse and manipulate them, enabling seamless integration across platforms. This contrasts with many current engines that act as closed ecosystems, making data exchange cumbersome. The conversation around AI in game development is often polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype “click‑to‑game” scenarios where a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’s team tempers these expectations, positioning AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magic wand.
Valient believes AI will elevate the quality of both blockbuster and indie titles by making creators more efficient, though he admits the technology currently carries negative connotations due to its disruptive pace. Economic concerns also loom large.
Critics worry that the AI boom may be a bubble with inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet didn’t. “AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming a core part of how we build software,” he said.
Immens’s focus remains on delivering a solid engine first, using AI to accelerate development and inspire bigger ambitions. Funding details remain vague. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency.
The company deliberately stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to maintain agility and keep costs in check. Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act. De Jong explains that building an engine is complex; you can’t simply throw a million developers at it.
A small, focused team can make thoughtful decisions and iterate quickly, which is crucial given the narrow window of opportunity presented by rapid AI advancements. Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aims to release this demo within the month, already moving twice as fast as their original timeline projected when they started in April. While the exact business model is still under discussion, Brussee appreciates Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy but admits it’s too early for firm commitments.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower creators to push the medium forward. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expression,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help developers take bigger risks and innovate, that would be amazing.”