For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, powering roughly 70% of Steam releases projected for 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made notable strides and some studios cling to proprietary tools—Capcom’s RE Engine, for example—the market has largely been locked into the duopoly of the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens, a fresh game engine built around artificial intelligence. Their résumés span Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and Apple, giving them a deep understanding of both the strengths and shortcomings of existing platforms.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. "With AI‑assisted programming, you can start building from scratch again," he explained. "With the right guidance and control, you can deliver full‑featured functionality at a much faster pace." Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ isn’t the kind that generates content from a single prompt.
Instead, it is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. "AI can reason over massive code and data sets.
If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or any other feature without being limited to a narrow scripting layer," he said. The motivation behind Immens stems from a grim reality in the games market. Brussee described the current climate as "rough," noting that development costs keep climbing, making it harder for small studios to survive. "We need new ways of working, more efficient processes that let us create games with fewer people, less time, and smaller budgets," he asserted.
De Jong, the chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a solid foundation, the industry now demands genuine innovation rather than incremental improvements. One of De Jong’s key criticisms of existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, which can stifle creativity. He envisions an engine that adapts to the user, offering interchangeable components, custom tools, and a UI tailored to each developer’s preferences. "I can build tools that match my exact workflow—specific shortcuts, features, and interfaces—so my team can work exactly the way we need to," he said. Valient acknowledged that AI, while powerful, can quickly veer off course if left unchecked.
Immens therefore places the user in full control of the AI’s actions, providing transparent histories and repeatable processes. This level of oversight means developers can generate, for instance, five unique characters with a particular trait in minutes—a task that previously might have taken weeks—then discard the temporary tool once the job is done.
Such on‑demand workflows dramatically reduce costs and open up possibilities for rapid iteration. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s design.
The engine does not impose a single workflow; instead, it offers a modular architecture where teams decide how much AI assistance they want and where to apply it. De Jong emphasized the importance of the AI understanding the developer’s intent correctly, a challenge the team is actively addressing.
Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, the engine can seamlessly communicate with popular tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. "When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them," Brussee noted.
This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering smooth integration. The broader AI debate in game development is heated, with some pundits warning of a future where a simple prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’s founders see AI not as a replacement for creativity but as an accelerator.
Valient believes AI will make every developer better, while De Jong stresses that AI is merely a tool—like any technology—that can be used responsibly or misused. Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with fears of a bubble and inflated valuations. Valient dismissed the notion that AI will disappear, comparing it to the dot‑com era: the hype may fade, but the underlying technology endures. "Great products survive because they are genuinely good," he said, underscoring Immens’s focus on building a solid engine first, with AI serving to speed development and broaden imagination.
Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee warned against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The team remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design, believing that a small, scrappy group can make better decisions than a massive, bureaucratic one.
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 on track two‑fold.
While the business model is still being refined, Brussee expressed admiration for Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" philosophy, though he admitted it is too early to commit to any specific revenue structure. Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will empower creators to push the medium forward. "We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions," Brussee concluded. "If our technology can enable more risk‑taking and innovation, that would be amazing."