For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, together accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction, and a handful of large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, 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 new way of building games.
The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development. Brussee and De Jong have spent years at Epic Games, the creators of Unreal, while Valient’s background includes stints at Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and Apple.
Their collective experience gives them a unique perspective on why the status quo may no longer serve the evolving needs of developers, especially smaller teams that are squeezed by rising production costs. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a novel engine: “A few years ago the idea of an AI‑augmented development pipeline didn’t really exist. Now, with AI‑supported programming, you can start building from scratch again, under tight guidance, and achieve full functionality much faster.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are integrating is not the kind that merely generates assets from prompts. 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 capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny studios can add custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being limited to superficial scripting.” This approach aims to let creators extend the engine quickly, using AI as an assistant rather than a replacement for thoughtful engineering. The motivation behind Immens is also economic.
Brussee described the current market climate as “rough,” noting that game development costs keep climbing, making it harder for studios to survive. “We need new, more efficient ways of working that lower budgets and shrink team sizes while still delivering high‑quality experiences,” he argued. De Jong echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. “Standardisation gave us a solid foundation, but the industry now needs innovation, not more of the same,” he said.
One of the core criticisms De Jong has of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immens intends to flip that model, offering an engine that adapts to the developer’s needs. “Flexibility is key,” he explained.
“You should be able to swap components, append new features, or build entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow—down to shortcuts, UI layout, and specific interfaces.” Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can quickly go off‑track if left unchecked. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users will always see what the engine is doing, have access to its decision history, and be able to reproduce results reliably. This level of oversight is crucial when automating tasks such as generating multiple characters with particular traits—jobs that previously could take weeks but now might be accomplished in a coffee break using an AI‑driven tool that can be discarded after use. The platform’s design philosophy rejects a one‑size‑fits‑all workflow.
De Jong stressed that Immens does not force a particular development approach; instead, it provides a framework that lets teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The engine also embraces open standards, making it easier to interoperate with popular tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines. “When files are text‑based, any program can read them,” Brussee noted. “Open standards let the AI parse and manipulate assets, creating smarter interfaces across the entire toolchain.” Despite the enthusiasm, there is a noticeable backlash against AI in game creation, fueled by sensational claims that a single prompt could produce a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience.
Immens’s founders see such “click‑to‑game” visions as far‑future possibilities, but they stress that AI should be viewed as a tool that amplifies human creativity, not a replacement for it. “AI is making everyone better,” Valient said. “It’s disruptive, which is why it feels uncomfortable, but it’s also an opportunity for the industry to evolve responsibly.” Economic anxieties also linger.
Critics argue that the AI boom may be a bubble with inflated valuations. Valient responded by drawing a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear; many companies fell, but the underlying technology persisted. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and expands our imagination. Whether the market is in a bubble is uncertain, but the technology itself isn’t going away.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital needed as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that excess money can breed complacency. The company deliberately remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—because a small, focused team can make critical architectural decisions more efficiently than a massive workforce. Immens is currently targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing flow, slated for release later this month.
The timeline has already outpaced original expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. While the ultimate business model is still under discussion, Brussee expressed admiration for Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, though he admitted it’s too early to commit to a specific approach.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will enable creators to push the artistic and technical boundaries of games. “We love games and want to see more risk‑taking, more creativity,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help bring innovative experiences to life, that would be amazing.”