For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made notable strides, and large publishers continue to rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens with the conviction that a fresh engine can still find a foothold and bring meaningful improvements.
The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game‑making: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform because “the tools that existed a couple of years ago simply aren’t enough anymore.” He believes AI‑assisted programming now makes it feasible to start from scratch and still deliver a fully‑featured engine quickly, provided developers retain strong guidance and control. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the company’s AI is not about generating content from a single prompt. Instead, the artificial‑intelligence components are woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
“AI can reason over large code‑bases and data sets,” he says. “If we design the core with that capability in mind, even solo creators or tiny teams can add custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being limited to superficial scripting.” The goal is to let developers harness AI to accelerate extensions while preserving the ability to understand and audit every change. A key driver behind Immens is the current economic pressure on developers.
Brussee describes the environment as “rough,” noting that production budgets keep climbing and the risk of failure is rising. “We need new ways of working that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and shorten schedules,” he argues. By leveraging AI‑enhanced pipelines, Immens hopes to lower the barrier to entry and make it possible for smaller studios to compete without jeopardising their livelihood. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation has produced stable foundations, it also stifles innovation. “The industry now faces a series of challenges, and merely iterating on the same old models won’t solve them,” he says. “We need a paradigm shift, not another incremental upgrade.” He criticises the monolithic nature of existing engines, where developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
With AI‑driven adaptability, Immens aims to let the engine bend to the developer’s needs rather than forcing developers to bend to the engine. Flexibility is a recurring theme. De Jong envisions a system where users can swap modules, append new functionality, or craft bespoke tools tailored to their personal workflow.
“Imagine being able to design an interface with exactly the shortcuts, panels, and features you need for a particular project,” he explains. That level of customization, combined with AI that can understand and manipulate code, could dramatically speed up tasks that previously took weeks. Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While it is “really powerful,” it can also behave unpredictably if left unchecked. Immens therefore builds in transparency: developers can see what the engine is doing, trace its decision history, and ensure repeatable results. This visibility allows creators to generate rapid prototypes—such as five uniquely‑traited characters—over a coffee break, then discard the temporary tools once the job is done, saving both time and money.
The platform is deliberately engineered to avoid imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that users decide how much AI to incorporate and where to apply it.
The underlying architecture is open‑standard‑friendly, meaning text‑based assets can be read by any compatible tool. Brussee highlights the advantage: “If your files are plain text, any program can ingest them.
The AI can parse and act on those files, making integration with Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines seamless.” This openness counters the “weird outlier” problem where many engines lock users into closed ecosystems. There is a vocal backlash against AI in game development, with some critics warning of a future where a simple prompt yields a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’s team sees that vision as a distant possibility, not an immediate reality.
Valient describes AI as a “tool” that will make developers better, not replace them. De Jong adds that responsible, productive use of AI is an industry duty, just as any powerful technology can be misused if left unchecked. Economic concerns also swirl around the AI hype bubble. Some fear inflated valuations and a looming crash.
Valient counters that AI is unlikely to disappear, drawing a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet survived, even though many early companies vanished. “Great technology and great products endure,” he says.
Immens focuses on building a solid engine first; AI merely accelerates the process and expands creative horizons. Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑capitalisation, noting that too much cash can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explains the trade‑off: a massive team doesn’t guarantee success for a complex engine; a small, focused group can make deliberate decisions and iterate faster, especially during the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise. 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 initial expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. Brussee admits it’s hard to predict exact milestones, but the early speed gains are encouraging.
Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific revenue structure. Ultimately, Brussee hopes the engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking, artistic expression, and innovation. “We love games and want to see more daring, creative work,” he says.
“If our technology can help make that happen, that would be amazing.”