For many years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the game‑development arena, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While Godot has carved out a respectable niche and some major studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the duopoly of Unity and Unreal still dominates the market. 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‑tech powerhouses, with stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine, and more importantly, room for a better one. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform.
“A couple of years ago this kind of engine didn’t exist,” he said. “Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from scratch again and deliver full‑featured tools much faster, while keeping tight control over the process.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stressed that their use of artificial intelligence is not the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑content” gimmick that many developers fear. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
“If we design the codebase with AI reasoning in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without wrestling with opaque scripting layers,” he explained. “The AI helps you extend the engine quickly, not replace your creativity.” The motivation behind Immens’s AI‑centric approach is the increasingly hostile economics of game production. Brussee described the current climate as “rough.” Development costs are spiralling, and studios of all sizes are feeling the pressure to deliver bigger, better experiences on ever‑shrinking budgets. “We need new ways of working, more efficient pipelines, and tools that let smaller teams ship faster without jeopardising their livelihood,” he argued.
De Jong, the chief product officer, noted that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has given developers a solid foundation, it has also stifled innovation. “The industry now faces a suite of challenges, and simply repeating the old formula won’t cut it,” he said.
“We need a paradigm shift—flexibility over monoliths.” Current engines often force developers into a monolithic workflow, complete with proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs. “You should be able to swap components, append new features, and build tools that match your personal workflow—exact shortcuts, interfaces, and everything else your project demands,” he explained.
Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is “really powerful,” it can also “go off the rails” if left unchecked.
Immens therefore builds transparency into the system: users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its history, and reproduce results reliably. This level of control, he says, turns a potentially chaotic assistant into a dependable partner.
Imagine needing five characters with a specific trait. In traditional pipelines, that might require weeks of planning and manual iteration.
With Immens, a developer could sketch the idea over coffee, let the AI generate the assets, and then reuse the same tool multiple times before discarding it. What once cost a small studio a substantial portion of its budget now becomes a rapid, low‑cost experiment. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s core philosophy.
De Jong stresses that the engine does not impose a single workflow. “You decide how much AI you want, where you want it, and how you integrate it with your existing tools,” he said. “The architecture is open enough to let you pick and choose.” Open standards also play a crucial role.
By relying on text‑based, human‑readable file formats, Immens can interoperate with the broader ecosystem—Blender, Maya, generative‑art tools, and more—without the friction that often plagues closed‑source engines. “If the files are open, any program can read them, and the AI can manipulate them directly,” Brussee noted.
“That creates smarter interfaces across the board.” The conversation around AI in game development is polarized. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand‑Theft‑Auto‑level world, fueling fear and backlash. Immens’s team tempers those extremes, viewing AI as a powerful yet ordinary tool.
“One day we might see ‘click‑to‑game’ engines, but for now we focus on empowering creators, not replacing them,” Valient said. Economic anxieties also swirl.
Critics warn of an AI bubble with inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the technology endured. We’re building a solid engine; AI just makes us faster and lets us dream bigger.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments,” though the exact amount is undisclosed and described as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed.
The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers. De Jong explains that a small, focused team is essential for an undertaking as complex as an engine.
“You can’t throw a million engineers at it and expect miracles. You need a tight group to make deliberate decisions and iterate thoughtfully.” At the same time, they are mindful of a narrow window of opportunity created by AI’s rise, and they aim to balance resources to hit that sweet spot.
Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aimed for an end‑of‑year release when they started in April, but they are already moving twice as fast as anticipated.
“Timelines are fluid when you’re breaking new ground,” Brussee admitted. Business‑model discussions are still in early stages.
While Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, they have not committed to any specific approach yet. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will spark a wave of creativity and risk‑taking in the industry. “We love games as an art form and want to see more daring, innovative experiences,” Brussee concluded.
“If our technology helps developers push boundaries, that would be amazing."