For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces behind game creation, responsible for roughly 70% of the titles that landed on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the market has largely been monopolised by the two giants. Enter Immens, a start‑up founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still space for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the status quo.
Their résumés read like a hall of fame: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they aim to challenge the entrenched players with a platform built around artificial intelligence. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “A few years ago the idea of a new engine didn’t make sense, but now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from scratch again and deliver full‑featured tools much faster.” He emphasised that the AI component isn’t about magical prompts that conjure code out of thin air; rather, it’s about constructing an engine architecture that is inherently extensible.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that their AI is a facilitator, not a replacement for developers. “If we design the codebase so AI can reason about it, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke animation pipeline without being limited to a handful of scripting hooks,” he said. This approach aims to let creators augment the engine quickly, using AI as a productivity accelerator.
The motivation behind the project is the increasingly hostile economics of game development. Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing and studios are forced into a high‑risk cycle.
“We need new ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and speed up delivery, so developers aren’t gambling their livelihoods on a single title,” he argued. De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardised and consolidated.
While this has given developers a reliable foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and repeating the old playbook won’t solve them.
We need fresh ideas, not just more of the same,” he asserted. He criticised the monolithic nature of existing engines, which force developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
With AI, Immens intends to deliver a system that moulds itself to the user’s needs, offering interchangeable modules, custom toolchains, and personalised shortcuts that match each developer’s workflow. Valient acknowledged AI’s power but warned of its volatility. “If you don’t keep an eye on it, the system can go off the rails,” he said. To counter this, Immens is built to give users full visibility and control over the AI’s actions.
Every change is logged, repeatable, and reversible, allowing creators to generate, for example, a set of five characters with specific traits in minutes rather than weeks, then discard the temporary tools once the task is complete. Flexibility is baked into the engine’s DNA.
De Jong stressed that Immens does not impose a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to employ and where. The architecture is deliberately open, supporting open standards and text‑based file formats that any tool can read. “If you’re using Blender, Maya, or any generative asset pipeline, you can plug it in because everything speaks the same language,” Brussee explained.
This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering interoperability. The conversation around AI in game development is often polarised.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that could produce Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens’s team sees AI more modestly—as a powerful assistant rather than a magic wand. Valient believes AI will elevate the whole industry, making developers better at their craft, while De Jong reminded listeners that any tool can be misused, and it’s the community’s responsibility to steer it toward constructive outcomes.
Economic concerns also loom large. Critics warn that AI‑focused startups are part of a speculative bubble with inflated valuations. Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies will fail, the underlying technology—just like the internet—will endure. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply helps us move faster and think bigger,” he said.
Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its first round of commitments but has not disclosed the exact amount, describing it as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency and reduce the scrappy mindset needed for early‑stage development.
The company currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, deliberately staying lean to maintain agility. The team is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. Brussee revealed that the project, which began in April, is already progressing at double the speed originally projected.
Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to formalise a revenue plan. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push artistic boundaries, take risks, and deliver innovative experiences. “We love games and want to see more creativity and daring in the medium. If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing,” Brussee concluded.