For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, together powering roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has made notable strides, the market still leans heavily toward proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—and the duopoly of Unity and Unreal remains largely unchallenged.
Enter Immens, a startup founded by three seasoned 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 current landscape. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, with experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together, they are setting out to build a new platform that leverages artificial intelligence not as a gimmick but as a core architectural principle. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: "There’s an opportunity now to build a new engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago. With AI‑assisted programming, you can start from a clean slate again and get full‑featured functionality quickly under tight guidance and control." He emphasizes that the AI component is meant to accelerate development rather than replace human creativity.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that their approach to AI is fundamentally different from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑asset” narrative that dominates many discussions. "The AI in Immens is about constructing an engine that is highly extensible," he says. "Because AI can reason over large codebases and data sets, we can design the underlying architecture so that even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle renderer—without being limited to superficial scripting layers.
In short, AI becomes a catalyst for rapid extension, not a black‑box generator." The motivation behind this ambitious project is the increasingly hostile economics of game creation. Brussee describes the current climate as "rough," noting that development costs are spiraling upward and making it harder for small studios to survive.
"We need new ways of working that lower risk, shrink budgets, and let teams deliver quality games faster," he argues. The trio sees AI‑enhanced tooling as a means to break the cycle of ever‑growing expenditures. De Jong, Immens’ chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has given developers a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation.
"The industry faces a host of challenges, and simply iterating on the same monolithic engines won’t solve them," he says. "We need a paradigm shift toward flexibility and adaptability." One of the pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature, which forces developers to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs, allowing interchangeable modules, custom toolchains, and personalized interfaces.
"Imagine being able to craft a toolset that mirrors your own workflow, with the exact shortcuts, UI layout, and features you require," he explains. "That level of customization is what AI can help you achieve without rewriting the entire engine from scratch." Valient also warns that AI, while powerful, can quickly go off‑track if left unchecked.
Immens therefore places a strong emphasis on transparency and control: users will always see what the AI is doing, retain a full history of changes, and be able to reproduce results reliably. This auditability is crucial for creative pipelines where a designer might need to generate five uniquely‑behaved characters in minutes—a task that previously could take weeks.
With AI‑assisted tools, such iterations become cheap, disposable, and repeatable. Flexibility is baked into Immens’ architecture. De Jong stresses that the engine does not impose a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
The underlying framework is built to accommodate varying degrees of automation while ensuring that the AI’s understanding of the project remains accurate. Interoperability is another cornerstone.
By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens aims to play nicely with the broader ecosystem of tools such as Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines. "When files are human‑readable, any tool can parse them," Brussee notes.
"The AI can ingest those files, manipulate them, and output results that other software can immediately consume. This openness solves a long‑standing friction point where proprietary engines act as isolated islands." The discourse around AI in game development is polarized.
Some pundits on platforms like LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens acknowledges the excitement but treats AI as a sophisticated instrument rather than a magical shortcut. "AI will make everyone better, but it remains a tool," Valient says.
"Its current negative perception stems from the disruption it causes at an unprecedented scale." Economic concerns also loom large. Critics worry that AI‑focused startups are inflating a bubble with lofty valuations. Valient counters that, like the dot‑com era, the technology itself will endure even if some companies fall away. "AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming the backbone of many industries, just as the internet did.
Our goal is to build a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development, not to chase hype." Funding details remain vague. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency. "Startups need to stay scrappy," he laughs. "Too much money can make you lazy, and we thrive on resourcefulness." The team remains intentionally lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—because building an engine is a complex, iterative endeavor that benefits from focused decision‑making rather than massive manpower.
De Jong explains the balancing act: they must assemble enough talent and capital to seize a narrow window of opportunity created by AI’s rise, yet avoid the temptation to simply throw a large crew at the problem. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The goal is to release this prototype within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced their original estimate of year‑end delivery. "We’re moving twice as fast as we thought we would," Brussee admits, highlighting the productivity gains they’re already experiencing.
Business model discussions are still in early stages. While Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” revenue share model, they have not committed to any specific approach yet. Brussee emphasizes that the ultimate metric of success will be the engine’s ability to empower creators to push the medium forward. In closing, Brussee reflects on the broader mission: "We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions.
If our technology can lower barriers, encourage risk‑taking, and spark genuine innovation, that would be amazing." The trio hopes Immens will become a catalyst for a new wave of creativity, proving that AI, when thoughtfully integrated, can be a force for good in the ever‑evolving world of game development.