Unity and Unreal have long held sway over the game‑development landscape, powering roughly 70% of all Steam releases slated for 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have begun to gain traction, most major studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example.
In short, the engine market has seemed firmly entrenched. Enter Immens, the brainchild of three seasoned veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who see a clear opening for a fresh contender. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, featuring stints at Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they are poised to challenge the status quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that “the moment is ripe for a new engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.” He believes AI‑augmented programming can return developers to a state of true creation from scratch, offering rapid, full‑featured results under tight supervision. Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the “prompt‑to‑output” variety that dominates headlines.
Instead, their AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explains.
“If we design 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.” This philosophy aims to let creators extend the engine swiftly, using AI as an accelerator rather than a replacement for skill. The motivation behind Immens’ AI‑centric approach stems from the current market climate, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Game development costs are spiralling, making it increasingly difficult for studios to stay afloat.
He asks, “How can we break this cycle? Can we discover new, more efficient workflows that let smaller teams deliver high‑quality experiences on tighter budgets?” The answer, he believes, lies in leveraging AI to cut development time and expense, thereby reducing financial risk for creators. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a solid foundation, he argues that the industry now needs genuine innovation. “Continuing to do things the way they’ve always been done won’t cut it,” he says.
“We need a different paradigm, not just another monolithic engine that forces developers to adapt to its constraints.” One of the pain points he highlights is the monolithic nature of existing engines, which often lock users into proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immens aims to deliver a system that bends to the developer’s will.
“Flexibility is key,” De Jong notes. “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 feature set you require.” Valient acknowledges AI’s power but warns that it can “go off the rails quickly if you’re not vigilant.” To counter this, Immens is built to keep users in full control, offering transparent histories of AI actions so outcomes are repeatable and auditable. He illustrates the potential impact with a simple scenario: creating five characters with a specific trait used to take weeks of planning; now, with AI‑assisted tooling, a developer could sketch the idea over coffee and generate usable assets in minutes, then discard the temporary tool after its job is done.
This rapid prototyping, he argues, dramatically lowers costs while expanding creative possibilities. Flexibility is baked into Immens’ core. De Jong stresses that the engine does not impose a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The architecture is deliberately modular, allowing teams to pick and choose AI components that make sense for their project while ensuring the AI interprets instructions correctly.
Interoperability is another priority. By embracing open, text‑based standards, Immens can communicate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline.
“If a file is readable as plain text, the AI can parse and manipulate it,” Brussee explains. “Open standards let us build smarter interfaces across the entire toolchain, something proprietary engines have historically resisted.” This openness promises smoother pipelines and reduces the friction that often plagues multi‑tool workflows.
The broader AI debate in game development is not without controversy. Some pundits on platforms like LinkedIn hype AI to the point of claiming that entire Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences could be conjured with a single prompt.
While Immens acknowledges the distant possibility of “click‑to‑game” solutions, the team insists their technology is a facilitator, not a replacement for human creativity. Valient emphasizes that AI will make developers better, not obsolete, and that the current negative perception stems from the disruptive scale of the technology.
Economic concerns also loom large. Critics warn that AI‑focused startups may be riding a speculative bubble. Valient counters that, like the dot‑com era, the underlying technology will endure even if some companies falter. “AI isn’t disappearing,” he says.
“The market will sort itself, leaving the truly valuable products and technologies behind. Our goal is to build a solid engine; AI simply helps us move faster and think bigger.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency.
The company intentionally stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—believing that a small, focused team can make more deliberate decisions and iterate quickly. Balancing team size and timeline is a delicate act.
De Jong points out that building an engine is a complex undertaking that cannot be solved by sheer manpower. Instead, a compact, iterative approach allows the team to make thoughtful design choices. At the same time, they recognize a limited window of opportunity created by the current AI surge and must secure sufficient resources to capitalize on it without over‑staffing. Immens is currently racing toward 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: what they anticipated would take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time, according to Brussee. The business model is still under discussion. While they admire Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” revenue share, Immens acknowledges that it’s too early to commit to a specific approach. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more artistic risk‑taking and innovation.
“We love games and want to see more daring, expressive titles,” Brussee says. “If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing.”