For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the de‑facto platforms for game creation, accounting for roughly 70 % of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been dominated by the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have teamed up to launch Immens, an AI‑enhanced game engine that they believe can carve out a new niche and address long‑standing pain points.
The founders bring a résumé that reads 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 combined background fuels confidence that they can challenge the status quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a fresh engine: “A few years ago, the idea of building an engine like this didn’t exist.
With AI‑assisted programming, we can start from scratch again and get full‑featured tools up quickly under tight guidance and control.” Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI component is not about generating assets through simple prompts. Instead, the technology is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he said. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or any other feature without being confined to a limited scripting layer.” This approach aims to let creators harness AI to accelerate extensions rather than replace the development process.
One of the core motivations behind Immens 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 teams to survive.
“We need new, more efficient ways of working that lower budgets and reduce risk,” he argued. The goal is to enable studios to deliver games faster, with fewer staff, and without jeopardising their financial stability. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has given developers a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry now faces a series of challenges, and simply repeating past methods isn’t enough. We need genuine innovation, not more of the same,” he said. He criticises the “monolithic approach” of existing engines, where developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
With AI, Immens intends to flip that model, offering an engine that molds itself to the user’s needs. Flexibility is a recurring theme. De Jong envisions a system where users can swap components, append new modules, or build bespoke tools tailored to their personal workflow. “I can create an interface with the exact shortcuts, features, and layout that my team requires,” he explained.
This level of customization, powered by AI, is meant to empower developers rather than constrain them. Valient also warns that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked.
Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users will always see what the engine is doing, have access to its decision history, and be able to reproduce results reliably. He illustrated this with a practical example: generating five characters with specific traits that previously might have taken weeks can now be prototyped over a coffee break, used a handful of times, and discarded—dramatically cutting costs.
The architecture of Immens deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that developers decide how much AI to integrate and where to apply it. The engine also embraces open standards, allowing seamless interaction with common tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines.
“When files are text‑based, any program can read them. The AI can parse and manipulate those files, creating a truly interoperable ecosystem,” Brussee noted. Despite the excitement, the AI‑in‑gamespace community is divided. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” experiences that could rival AAA titles with a single prompt.
Immens’ team acknowledges that such a future might be possible, but they view AI primarily as a productivity enhancer. “AI will make everyone better, not replace the creative process,” Valient said, adding that the technology’s current negative perception stems from its disruptive scale.
Economic concerns also linger, especially regarding a potential AI bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: while many startups vanished, the underlying internet persisted and flourished. He believes Immens’ focus on building a solid, useful engine will help it survive any market turbulence.
“We’re not chasing hype; we’re building a good product that leverages AI to speed up development and expand creative horizons,” he affirmed. Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments,” but the exact amount is undisclosed and described as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explains the balance: a complex engine cannot be built by a massive team overnight, yet a window of opportunity exists as AI reshapes the industry. “We need enough resources to hit that window without over‑staffing,” he said.
Currently, Immens is 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. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific approach. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more artistic risk‑taking and innovation.
“We love games and want to see more daring, creative experiences,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help make that happen, that would be amazing."