For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large publishers still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been a duopoly. Yet three industry veterans, Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient, have launched Immens with the conviction that there is still room for a fresh, better‑designed engine.
The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their collective background gives them a unique perspective on the shortcomings of existing tools and the opportunities presented by recent advances in artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the kind of AI‑supported programming that didn’t exist a couple of years ago is now mature enough to let us start building from scratch again.” He believes that, with careful guidance, developers can assemble a fully functional engine much faster than before. Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, is careful to distinguish his team’s use of AI from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑content” narrative that dominates headlines.
He says the AI in Immens is primarily a **tool for extensibility**. “If we design the codebase so that AI can reason about the whole system, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without rewriting large sections of the engine,” he explains.
The goal is to let creators extend the engine quickly, rather than rely on a black‑box that spits out assets on demand. The motivation behind this AI‑centric approach is the increasingly hostile economics of game production.
Brussee describes 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 that lower risk, reduce budgets, and let teams ship faster,” he says.
The trio hopes that AI‑enhanced pipelines will allow teams to iterate more rapidly, cutting down the months‑long cycles that traditionally dominate the industry. De Jong, Immens’ chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly **standardised and consolidated**.
While that consolidation has provided a stable foundation, it also means the industry is stuck in a comfort zone. “We’re at a point where continuing to do things the same way isn’t enough,” he argues. “What we need now is genuine innovation, not just another iteration of the same monolithic engines.” One of the biggest pain points with current engines, according to De Jong, is their **monolithic nature**.
Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, which can stifle creativity. With AI, Immens aims to flip that dynamic: the engine should adapt to the developer, not the other way around. “You should be able to swap components, append new modules, or build entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow,” he says.
For instance, a designer could craft a UI that mirrors their exact shortcut preferences and then share it across the team. Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is “really powerful,” it can also “go off the rails quickly if you don’t keep an eye on it.” To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep the user in the driver’s seat.
Every AI‑generated change is logged, repeatable, and fully transparent, allowing developers to understand exactly how a tool arrived at a solution. This level of control is crucial when, for example, a studio needs to generate five characters with specific traits in minutes rather than weeks.
Flexibility is baked into Immens’ architecture. De Jong stresses that the engine does not enforce a single workflow; instead, it offers a modular framework where teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where. “The AI should understand the context correctly, but the choice of using it remains with the developer,” he notes.
Interoperability is another cornerstone of the project. By relying on open, text‑based standards, Immens can communicate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. Brussee explains, “When files are plain text, any program can read them.
That means the AI can parse, modify, and export assets without being locked into a proprietary format. It’s a huge step toward a more collaborative ecosystem.” The broader community remains divided on AI’s role in game creation. Some commentators on LinkedIn predict a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling fear of a “click‑to‑game” era.
Immens’ team, however, views AI as a **supportive instrument**, not a replacement for human creativity. Valient says, “Big games will still be made because AI makes every creator better, not because AI does the work for them.” De Jong adds that, like any tool, AI must be wielded responsibly. Economic concerns also surface, particularly the fear that AI‑focused startups are part of a speculative bubble.
Valient draws a parallel with the dot‑com boom, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying technology— the internet— persisted and flourished. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and expands what’s possible. Whether the market is a bubble is unknown, but the technology isn’t going away,” he asserts.
Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑capitalization, noting that excessive money can breed complacency.
The company deliberately stays lean, consisting of the three founders and a handful of helpers, believing that a small, focused team can make critical decisions faster than a bloated organization. Immens is currently working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aimed to have this ready by the end of the year, but they are already two‑fold ahead of schedule, planning to release the demo within the month. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but says it’s too early to commit to a specific licensing strategy.
Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will empower developers to push the artistic and technical boundaries of games, fostering more risk‑taking and innovation across the medium. "We love games and want to see more creativity and daring projects," Brussee concludes.
"If our engine can help make that happen, that would be amazing."