For years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools 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 locked into the duopoly of the two giants. Enter Immens, a startup founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh approach. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they are setting out to challenge the status quo with an AI‑enhanced engine that they say will give smaller teams the power to build games faster and at lower cost. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “A few years ago this kind of engine didn’t exist. With AI‑assisted programming we can start from scratch again, under tight guidance, and deliver full‑featured experiences quickly.” He stresses that the AI they are integrating is not the kind of “prompt‑to‑content” hype that dominates headlines. Instead, the technology is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, elaborated: “Our AI isn’t about generating assets on demand; it’s about understanding the codebase and reasoning over large data sets. By designing the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke animation tool without wrestling with opaque scripting layers.” In practice, this means the engine can be extended through AI‑driven suggestions, accelerating the creation of new modules while keeping the core stable. The motivation behind Immens stems from what Brussee describes as a “rough” market landscape. Game development costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for studios to survive.
“We need new ways of working that cut expenses, shrink team sizes, and shorten timelines,” he said. The goal is to break the cycle where each new title requires ever‑larger budgets, thereby reducing the financial risk for creators and studios alike. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that has provided a solid foundation, the industry now faces a series of challenges that demand innovation, not more of the same. He criticizes the “monolithic approach” of current engines, which force developers to adapt to rigid file formats and workflows. With AI, Immens aims to deliver an engine that bends to the user’s needs, allowing interchangeable components, custom toolchains, and personalized interfaces. Flexibility is a recurring theme.
De Jong envisions a scenario where a developer can craft tools that match their exact workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set—without being hamstrung by the engine’s default conventions. This level of customization, powered by AI that can parse and manipulate text‑based assets, is intended to make cross‑tool integration seamless.
“If you have a text‑based file, any system can read it,” Brussee noted. “Our AI can ingest those files, understand them, and act on them, which opens the door to smoother pipelines with Blender, Maya, or any generative platform.” The team acknowledges the controversy surrounding AI in game creation. Some commentators warn of a future where a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, sparking fears of a “click‑to‑game” era. Immens, however, sees AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement.
Valient says, “AI will make everyone better, but it remains a tool. Like any technology, it can be misused, but it also has the potential to unlock unprecedented creativity.” Economic concerns also loom large. The AI boom has generated talk of a bubble, with inflated valuations and speculative hype. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com bubble, arguing that while many companies will fall, the underlying technology will endure.
“AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming the backbone of how we build software, just as the internet did,” he asserts. Immens is focused on delivering a solid engine first, using AI to accelerate development and inspire bigger visions. Funding remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency.
The company deliberately stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to maintain agility and keep the development process scrappy. Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act. De Jong explains that building an engine is a complex undertaking that cannot be solved by simply adding hundreds of engineers.
A small, focused team can make thoughtful decisions and iterate quickly, which is crucial given the narrow window of opportunity presented by the AI wave. 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 two‑times ahead of schedule and plan to unveil the demo this month. As for the business model, Brussee admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to lock down pricing or licensing details.
The ultimate ambition, he says, is simple: to empower creators to push the medium forward. “We love games, we love the artistic expression they enable, and we want to see more risk‑taking and innovation. If our technology can help make that happen, that would be amazing.”