For many years the game‑development landscape has been dominated by two heavyweight engines: Unity and Unreal. In 2025 they powered roughly seventy percent of all titles released on Steam, leaving little room for alternatives. While open‑source options like Godot have made noticeable strides and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely settled into a duopoly. Enter Immens, a fledgling company 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 argue that the current engine ecosystem, though stable, is ripe for disruption and that modern AI tools open a pathway that didn’t exist a few years ago.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained the timing: “There’s an opportunity now to build a new engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago. With AI‑assisted programming, you can start building from scratch again, under tight guidance and control, and deliver full‑featured systems quickly.” He sees AI not as a magic wand that conjures assets from prompts, but as a catalyst for creating an extensible, modular codebase that smaller teams can adapt without being shackled to a monolithic architecture. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified the distinction.
“Our AI isn’t about prompting stuff into existence,” he said. “It’s about designing the engine so that the underlying code can be reasoned about and extended efficiently. A solo developer could add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without rewriting large sections of the engine. AI helps accelerate those extensions, not replace the developer’s intent.” The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the harsh economics of modern game production.
Brussee described the environment as “rough,” noting that development costs keep climbing and studios are forced into ever‑larger budgets to stay competitive. “We need new ways of working, more efficient pipelines that let small teams create high‑quality games faster and with less financial risk,” he argued. The trio believes that by embedding AI into the engine’s core, they can streamline repetitive tasks, automate boilerplate code, and free creators to focus on design and storytelling. De Jong, the chief product officer, highlighted another pain point: the industry’s drift toward standardisation and consolidation.
While a unified foundation can be useful, it also breeds a “monolithic approach” where developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. “We want an engine that adapts to the user, not the other way around,” he said.
“Flexibility means you can swap components, append new tools, and tailor the interface to your team’s exact needs—down to shortcuts and UI layout.” Of course, the team acknowledges AI’s limitations. Valient warned that the technology, while powerful, can “go off the rails quickly if you don’t pay attention.” Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can trace every change the AI makes, review its history, and ensure reproducibility. This auditability is crucial when the engine is used to generate content on the fly, such as creating five unique characters with specific traits in the time it takes to sip coffee.
Immens’s architecture is deliberately open. De Jong stressed that the framework does not enforce a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. By adopting open standards and text‑based file formats, the engine can interoperate with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline.
Brussee illustrated the advantage: “If the files are text‑based, any program can read them. The AI can parse and manipulate them, making integration seamless. This is a big step beyond the closed‑off ecosystems of many existing engines.” The conversation around AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype “click‑to‑game” solutions that could generate Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens’s founders see such visions as far‑off fantasies, positioning AI as a supportive tool rather than a replacement for human creativity.
“AI will make everyone better, not take over the craft,” Valient said. De Jong added that, like any technology, AI can be misused, but the industry bears responsibility to apply it responsibly. Economic anxieties also linger, especially given the recent surge of AI‑focused startups and fears of a valuation bubble.
Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the technology endured. We’re building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and lets us dream bigger.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital raise as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against excess: “Too much money can make a startup lazy. Scrappiness drives innovation.” The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design, believing that a small, focused team can make decisive architectural choices 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 finish by year‑end, but they are already two‑fold ahead of schedule, aiming to release the demo within the month. While the long‑term 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 their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward. “We love games and want to see more risk‑taking, more artistic expression,” Brussee concluded. “If Immens can provide the tools that let indie studios innovate without drowning in cost, that would be amazing.”