For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces behind game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases 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 duopoly of Unity and Unreal still commands the market. Enter Immens, a startup founded by three seasoned industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game development, with experience at Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the current offerings. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new platform that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. He highlighted the role of AI‑augmented programming as a catalyst: “With AI‑supported coding you can start building from scratch again, under tight guidance and control, and achieve full‑featured results quickly.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the company’s AI is not about magical prompts that conjure entire games.
Instead, it focuses on making the engine itself highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explained.
“If we design the engine with that capability in mind, small teams or solo developers can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to limited scripting.” This approach aims to let creators extend the engine faster and with greater precision. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development.
Brussee described the landscape as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for studios to survive. He asked, “Can we discover new, more efficient ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and shorten timelines, so creators aren’t risking their livelihoods?” De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a stable foundation, he argued the industry now needs genuine innovation rather than more of the same.
“We’re at a point where continuing old habits won’t solve the challenges ahead. We need a different approach.” One criticism of existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers often have to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. De Jong believes AI can flip this script, delivering an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs. “Flexibility is key,” he said.
“You should be able to swap components, append new features, and craft tools that match your personal workflow—down to the exact shortcuts, UI layout, and functionality you require.” Valient acknowledged that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see what the engine is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes.
He illustrated this with a practical example: “Instead of spending weeks to generate five characters with a specific trait, you could prototype them over coffee and breakfast, use the tool a handful of times, and discard it. That level of rapid iteration used to be prohibitively expensive.” Immens’s architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow.
De Jong stressed that developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where to apply it, provided the AI correctly interprets the tasks. The engine also leans on open standards, enabling seamless interoperability with 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.” The broader AI debate in game development is heated.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype “click‑to‑game” promises that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’s team sees such visions as aspirational but ultimately treats AI as a tool, not a replacement for craftsmanship. Valient said, “AI will make everyone better, but it’s still a tool that must be wielded responsibly.” De Jong added, “Every technology can be misused; our duty is to guide its application toward positive outcomes.” Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with fears of a speculative bubble. Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear, but many over‑hyped companies fell away, leaving only the solid products.
“We’re building a genuinely good engine; AI simply accelerates our development and lets us dream bigger. Whether the market is in a bubble is unknown, but history shows useful technology survives.” Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed amounts, describing the needed capital as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against excessive cash, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explained the balance: “You can’t throw a million developers at an engine and expect it to work; you need a focused team to make critical decisions. At the same time, you must have enough resources to hit the narrow window of opportunity the AI wave presents.” Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month.
The timeline has already outpaced their original expectations: “We aimed for an end‑of‑year finish when we started in April, and we’re now twice as fast,” Brussee reported. The business model is still being refined. While Immens admires Epic’s philosophy of shared success, they consider it premature to make definitive statements about pricing or revenue sharing.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine 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 enable more risk‑taking and innovation, that would be amazing.”