Unity and Unreal have long held sway over game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been a duopoly.
Into this landscape step three seasoned developers: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient, the founders of Immens. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, with experience at Epic Games, Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and Apple, and they now aim to carve out space for a fresh engine built around artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. "With AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again," he said.
"Guided, yet flexible, we can deliver full‑featured tools far more quickly than before." Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that their use of AI is not about generating content via prompts, but about constructing an engine that is inherently extensible. "AI excels at reasoning over massive codebases and data sets," he noted. "If we architect the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—say, a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer. The AI helps them extend the engine faster and more safely." The motivation behind this AI‑centric approach stems from the current economic pressures on developers.
Brussee described the market as "rough," emphasizing that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for studios to stay viable. "We need new workflows that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines," he argued. "Otherwise you risk everything—your livelihood, your studio, your creative vision." De Jong, Immens’s chief product officer, observed that the engine space has become increasingly standardized and consolidated.
While that stability provides a solid base, he believes the industry now demands genuine innovation rather than incremental polish. "We’re at a crossroads where the old, monolithic engines force developers to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines," he said. "AI gives us the chance to flip that script, letting the engine adapt to the creator instead of the other way around." Flexibility is a core tenet of Immens. De Jong envisions a system where developers can swap modules, append new features, or craft bespoke tools tailored to their personal workflows.
"Imagine being able to design an interface with exactly the shortcuts, panels, and automation you need for a specific project," he explained. "That level of customization has been out of reach with traditional engines." Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can behave unpredictably if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is being built with transparency and control at its heart. Users will be able to audit the engine’s decisions, trace its actions, and reproduce results reliably.
"You’ll know exactly what the AI is doing, why it chose a particular path, and you can roll back or tweak it as needed," he said. This accountability is crucial for creative pipelines where a single misstep can cost weeks of work. One of the most exciting promises is the ability to generate rapid prototypes. Valient illustrated a scenario where a designer needs five characters with a specific trait.
In the past, that might require weeks of manual labor; with Immens, the same task could be scripted, executed over a coffee break, and the resulting assets reused or discarded as needed. This on‑demand generation could dramatically lower the cost of iteration.
Immens deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stressed that the framework is modular, allowing teams to decide how much AI they want to incorporate and where. "You might use AI for asset creation but stick to hand‑crafted code for core gameplay mechanics, or vice versa. The engine simply provides the scaffolding; you choose the building materials." Open standards also play a pivotal role.
Brussee highlighted that text‑based file formats enable any tool to read and write data, fostering seamless integration with popular software like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines. "When everything speaks the same language, you can plug in external tools without wrestling with proprietary barriers," he said.
This openness could solve a long‑standing pain point where engines act as isolated islands rather than collaborative hubs. The broader conversation about AI in game development is fraught with hype and fear. Some pundits on LinkedIn claim that a single prompt could soon spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling a backlash. The Immens team acknowledges the sensationalism but frames AI as a "tool" rather than a magic wand.
Valient believes that AI will elevate the skill of every developer, making large‑scale projects more accessible while preserving artistic intent. Economic anxieties also surface, with critics dubbing the AI boom a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t vanish, but many overvalued startups did. He argues that solid products survive regardless of market froth. "Our focus is on building a genuinely useful engine; AI simply accelerates that process," he said.
Whether the sector is in a bubble remains uncertain, but Immens is betting on lasting value. Funding details remain vague.
Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee cautioned against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explained that engine development is a complex, iterative endeavor that benefits from a small, focused team capable of making deliberate decisions without the overhead of a massive staff. Currently, Immens is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The team expected to reach this milestone by year‑end but claims they are already twice as fast as anticipated. Timeline predictions are therefore fluid, but the momentum appears strong. On the business model front, Brussee admires Epic Games’ "we succeed when you succeed" philosophy but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific revenue structure.
The ultimate goal, he says, is to empower creators to push the medium forward. "We love games as an art form and want to see more risk‑taking and creativity," he concluded.
"If our technology can help bring that vision to life, that would be amazing."