For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to platforms for game creators, powering roughly 70 % of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have gained traction and some studios cling to proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been dominated by the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned developers—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens, a fresh game engine that leans heavily on artificial intelligence to reshape how games are built.
The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry. Brussee spent years at Epic Games, the creator of Unreal, while De Jong contributed to titles at Guerrilla Games and Boss Key, and Valient has held senior technical roles at Apple.
Their combined experience gives them a unique perspective on the strengths and shortcomings of existing engines, and they believe there is still room for innovation. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine.
“A few years ago the idea of an AI‑augmented development pipeline was more fantasy than reality,” he said. “Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from a clean slate and assemble functional systems much more quickly, while still keeping developers in the driver’s seat.” Valient, who serves as Immens’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI component is not about generating content from a simple prompt. Instead, the engine is designed to be highly extensible, allowing AI to reason over the codebase and help developers add custom features.
“If a small team wants a bespoke particle system, they can plug it in without wrestling with opaque scripting layers,” he noted. “The AI acts as an assistant that speeds up extension work, not as a black‑box creator.” The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the environment as “rough,” pointing out that production budgets continue to swell, making it increasingly difficult for studios to stay afloat. “We need new ways of working that shrink costs, reduce team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he argued.
“If we can cut the development cycle in half, we lower the financial risk for creators and keep the medium vibrant.” De Jong, Immens’ chief product officer, observed that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that standardization provides a solid foundation, it also stifles creativity.
“The industry is at a crossroads,” he said. “Continuing to rely on the same monolithic tools will not solve the emerging challenges. We need a paradigm shift toward flexibility and innovation.” One of the pain points with current engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, which can be a barrier for smaller teams. De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs, offering interchangeable modules, customizable toolchains, and the ability to craft interfaces tailored to specific projects. “Imagine being able to design a UI that mirrors your personal workflow, with shortcuts and features exactly where you need them,” he explained. “That level of personalization is what we aim to provide.” Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked.
Immens therefore emphasizes transparency: users can see what the engine is doing, track its decision history, and ensure repeatable results. This control is crucial when automating tasks such as generating a set of characters with particular traits—a process that traditionally might take weeks but could now be prototyped over a coffee break. “The tool can be spun up, used a handful of times, and discarded without incurring huge costs,” he said.
Flexibility is baked into Immens’ architecture. The framework does not dictate a single workflow; instead, it lets developers decide how much AI assistance they want and where to apply it.
De Jong stressed that the engine must also understand the AI’s output correctly, ensuring that the assistance remains reliable. Interoperability is another cornerstone.
By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens can seamlessly exchange data with popular applications like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. “When files are plain text, any tool can read and manipulate them,” Brussee noted. “This openness eliminates the siloed nature of many current engines and allows for smarter, cross‑tool interfaces.” The broader conversation around AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators hype “click‑to‑game” promises, suggesting that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’ team acknowledges that such extremes are unlikely in the near term; they view AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human creativity. “AI will make every developer better, not take over the craft,” Valient asserted. “It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused, but it also opens doors to new artistic possibilities.” Economic concerns also loom, with many questioning whether AI‑focused startups are part of a speculative bubble.
Valient drew a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying technology endured and reshaped the internet. “We’re focused on building a solid engine first; AI simply accelerates our development and expands our imagination,” he said.
“Whether this is a bubble is uncertain, but the technology isn’t going away.” Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, suggesting that excess capital can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “A lean team forces disciplined decision‑making.” Indeed, Immens currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of contributors.
They believe a small, focused group can iterate faster and make clearer architectural choices than a massive, bureaucratic effort. De Jong explained the trade‑off: “You can’t throw a million engineers at an engine and expect miracles. You need a tight core that can move quickly while still having enough resources to hit the market window created by AI’s rise.” The team is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
Originally slated for year‑end, the prototype is now expected within the month, a timeline that Brussee says is “twice as fast as we predicted.” Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic Games’ revenue‑share approach—“we succeed when you succeed”—but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering risk‑taking, artistic expression, and technical innovation. “We love games and want to see more daring, creative experiences,” Brussee concluded.
“If Immens can lower the barriers and give developers the tools to experiment, the industry will benefit. That would be amazing.”