For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made noticeable strides in recent years and some large studios still rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly controlled by the two giants. Enter Immens, a fledgling company founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the status quo.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑tech history, with experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and Apple. Together they aim to challenge the entrenched players with a platform built around artificial intelligence.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because "the tools that existed a couple of years ago simply aren’t enough anymore." He argues that AI‑assisted programming can give developers the ability to start from scratch again, providing a high degree of guidance while still delivering full functionality quickly. Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI component is not about generating content through vague prompts.
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 says.
"If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer." The motivation behind this AI‑centric approach is the increasingly harsh economic climate of game development. Brussee describes the current landscape as "rough" and warns that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for creators to break even.
"We need new ways of working that lower costs and let smaller teams ship faster with tighter budgets," he asserts. The goal is to reduce the financial risk that threatens studios and individual livelihoods. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has given developers a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. "The industry faces a suite of challenges, and simply repeating the old methods isn’t enough," he says.
"We need fresh ideas, not more of the same." A key criticism of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and workflows that are often rigid. De Jong believes AI can flip this script by delivering an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs. "Flexibility is essential," he explains.
"You should be able to swap components, append new functionality, or build entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is "really powerful," it can also veer off course if left unchecked.
To mitigate this, Immens is building transparency into the system: users will always know what the AI is doing, see its decision history, and retain full control over the output. This repeatability is crucial for professional pipelines where consistency matters. He gives an example: creating five characters with a specific trait used to require weeks of planning and manual labor. With AI‑assisted tools, a developer could sketch the idea over coffee, generate the assets, reuse the workflow multiple times, and discard the temporary tooling afterward.
What once cost a small fortune can now be accomplished with a fraction of the resources, dramatically accelerating iteration. Immens’ design philosophy rejects a one‑size‑fits‑all workflow. De Jong emphasizes that the framework is deliberately open, allowing developers to decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The engine’s architecture is built to accommodate varying degrees of automation while ensuring the AI interprets instructions correctly.
Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens. By embracing open, text‑based standards, the engine can seamlessly exchange data with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. "When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them," Brussee notes. This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering smooth integration.
The broader industry conversation about AI in games is polarized. Some pundits on platforms like LinkedIn hype the notion of "click‑to‑game" experiences where a single prompt spawns a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world.
Immens acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a tool, not a replacement for creativity. Valient believes AI will elevate the skill of developers across the spectrum, making both blockbuster titles and indie projects better. Economic concerns also surface, with skeptics labeling the AI boom a bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying technology— the internet— persisted and flourished.
"AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming a foundational layer," he says. The team’s focus remains on delivering a high‑quality engine; whether the market is inflated is secondary.
Funding details remain vague. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee warns against excessive capital, suggesting that too much money can breed complacency.
The startup deliberately stays lean, consisting of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, to preserve agility and scrappiness. Scaling an engine development effort is a delicate balance. De Jong explains that throwing a massive team at the problem does not guarantee success; a small, focused group is better suited to make critical architectural decisions. At the same time, they must seize the narrow window of opportunity presented by rapid AI advances and industry shifts.
Immens is currently building a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aims to release this demo within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced their original projection of completing it by year‑end. "We’re moving twice as fast as we expected," Brussee remarks, highlighting the acceleration that AI can bring to development cycles. The business model is still under discussion.
While Immens appreciates Epic Games’ "we succeed when you succeed" licensing philosophy, they consider it premature to commit to a specific revenue structure. The founders remain open to models that align incentives between the engine and its users.
Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will empower creators to push the boundaries of interactive art. "We love games and the complex expression they enable," Brussee says.
"We want more creativity, more risk‑taking, and more innovation built on technology like ours. That would be amazing."