For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, responsible for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been locked into the duopoly of Unity and Unreal.
Enter Immens, a fledgling venture founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game development, spanning Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they argue that there is still space for a fresh engine, and that the current landscape is ripe for improvement.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform. “There’s an opportunity now to build an engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago,” he said. “AI‑assisted programming lets us start from scratch again, giving us the ability to deliver full‑featured tools quickly while keeping tight control over the process.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that their use of AI is not about generating assets with a single prompt.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “If we design the codebase with AI in mind, even small teams or solo developers can add deep customisations,” he noted. “They won’t be limited to tiny scripts; they can, for instance, drop in a bespoke particle system or any other subsystem they need.” This approach aims to let creators extend the engine rapidly, using AI as a productivity accelerator rather than a magic wand.
The motivation behind Immens’s AI‑powered engine is the increasingly hostile economics of game development. Brussee described the current climate as “rough.” Development costs continue to climb, and studios are forced to gamble huge budgets on projects that may never see a return. “We need new ways of working, more efficient pipelines that let smaller teams ship faster and cheaper, without risking everything,” he argued. De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that stability has given developers a solid foundation, it has also stifled innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and simply repeating the old formula isn’t enough,” he said.
“We need genuine innovation, not more of the same.” A key criticism of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must conform 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 essential,” he explained. “You should be able to swap components, append new ones, 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 also its volatility.
“If you don’t keep a close eye on it, the system can go off the rails quickly,” he warned. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users will always see what the engine is doing, have access to its decision history, and be able to reproduce results reliably.
This level of oversight is intended to keep the creative process predictable while still offering the speed of AI‑driven automation. Imagine needing five characters with a specific trait.
In the past, this might involve weeks of manual work. With Immens, a developer could sketch the requirement over coffee, let the AI generate the assets, and then reuse the tool as needed—dramatically cutting cost and time. Such workflow shortcuts, Valient says, are the real value proposition.
Immens’s design deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that the framework is open‑ended: “It’s up to you how you want to use it, and how much AI you want to incorporate.” The engine also embraces open standards, ensuring seamless interoperability with common tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines. “When files are text‑based, any program can read them,” Brussee noted.
“That means the AI can parse and manipulate assets directly, and we can plug into a growing ecosystem of open‑standard tools.” The broader AI debate in game development is heated. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype the idea of creating Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences with a single prompt, sparking fears of a "click‑to‑game" future. Immens’s team sees AI more modestly—as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement.
Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry: “Big games and indie projects alike will benefit because AI makes everyone better.” He also cautions that AI, like any technology, can be misused, but stresses that responsible deployment is a collective responsibility. Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many questioning whether the current hype is a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many startups vanished, the underlying internet endured and flourished. “AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming a core part of how we build software,” he said.
“Our goal is to create a solid engine that leverages AI to speed development and expand creative horizons, regardless of market cycles.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its first round of commitments but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed.
“Too much money can make you lazy.” The company remains tiny—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explains the trade‑off: building an engine is complex and cannot be rushed by throwing a massive team at it, yet timing is crucial to capture the window opened by AI’s rise. “We need enough people and resources to hit that opportunity, but not so many that we lose focus,” he said.
Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The team originally expected a year‑long timeline, yet they are already moving twice as fast as anticipated. Brussee admits that predicting exact milestones is challenging in such a fast‑moving space.
Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to lock in a definitive approach. Ultimately, Brussee hopes the engine will empower creators to push artistic boundaries.
“We love games and want to see more risk‑taking, more creativity,” he said. “If our technology can help bring that vision to life, that would be amazing.”