Unity and Unreal have long held sway over the game‑development landscape, together accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction and some studios cling to proprietary tools—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the duopoly of Unity and Unreal still dominates the market. Enter Immens, a startup founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑tech powerhouses, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine, and more importantly, for a new approach to building it. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is finally right for a novel engine.
“A few years ago this idea didn’t exist,” he said. “With AI‑assisted programming we can start from a clean slate again, guided by strong control mechanisms, and deliver full‑featured tools quickly.” Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the typical “prompt‑to‑output” model that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explained.
“If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers can plug in custom systems—say, a bespoke particle engine—without being limited to simple scripting.” This philosophy aims to let creators harness AI to accelerate extensions rather than replace the development process. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the harsh economics of modern game production. Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” noting that development costs keep climbing and many studios struggle to break even.
“We need new ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and speed up iteration,” he said. “If we can cut the risk to a studio’s livelihood, we can foster more creativity.” De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a solid foundation, he believes the industry now requires genuine innovation. “Continuing to do things the way they’ve always been done won’t solve the challenges we face,” he warned.
“We need a different paradigm, not just another monolithic tool.” One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the “monolithic approach” of existing engines, which often force developers to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. By contrast, Immens aims to be a flexible platform that adapts to the user’s needs. “You should be able to swap components, append new features, and build custom tools that match your personal workflow,” he said. “Imagine a developer creating an interface with exactly the shortcuts, panels, and shortcuts they need for a specific project—Immens should make that possible.” Valient also cautioned that AI, while powerful, can quickly go off‑track if left unchecked.
Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes. This level of oversight, he argued, is essential for reliable toolchains in production environments. The engine’s design deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow.
De Jong stressed that teams can decide how much AI to incorporate and where to apply it. “Our architecture is open‑ended, so you choose the balance between manual control and AI assistance,” he noted. “The key is making sure the AI understands the context correctly.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, the engine can communicate seamlessly with popular tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines.
Brussee illustrated the advantage: “If a file is plain text, any program can read it. The AI can parse those files and act on them, enabling smarter integration across the entire development stack.” He believes that many current engines act as isolated islands, whereas Immens seeks to be a connective hub. The broader AI debate in gaming is not lost on Immens.
Some critics on platforms like LinkedIn hype AI to the point of claiming that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. While Immens acknowledges the eventual possibility of “click‑to‑game” solutions, they view AI primarily as an empowering tool rather than a replacement for human creativity.
“AI will make everyone better, not eliminate the craft,” Valient asserted. “It has a negative stigma now because it’s disrupting at an unprecedented scale, but responsible use can drive the industry forward.” Economic anxieties also surface, with many questioning whether the AI boom is a bubble. Valient likened it 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 that leverages AI to speed up development and inspire bigger dreams.
Whether it’s a bubble is unknown, but the tech isn’t going away.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments,” though the founders have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against excess capital, 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 trade‑off: “Building an engine is complex; you can’t throw a million engineers at it.
A small, focused team can make deliberate decisions and iterate faster, especially within the limited 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; what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving months early. Brussee admitted that predicting timelines is difficult when the technology accelerates itself. Regarding the business model, Brussee expressed admiration for Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy but said it’s too early to commit to a specific approach.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will enable developers to push the boundaries of interactive art. “We love games and want to see more risk‑taking and innovation,” Brussee concluded. “If our engine can help creators build bolder experiences, that would be amazing."