For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces shaping game creation, accounting for roughly seventy percent of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have begun to gain traction, the market still largely favors proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—and the duopoly of Unity and Unreal appears firmly entrenched. Enter three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who have banded together to launch Immens, a startup that believes there is still room for a fresh engine and, more importantly, a chance to improve upon the status quo. Their résumés read like a roll call of gaming’s elite: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they aim to challenge the entrenched giants with a platform built around artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is now ripe for a new engine, noting that "a few years ago the idea didn’t exist." He explained that AI‑assisted programming can let developers start from a clean slate again, providing enough guidance and control to deliver full‑featured tools quickly. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not about "prompt‑to‑asset" generation in the sensationalist sense.
Instead, it is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. "AI can reason over massive amounts of data and source code," he said. "If we design the engine with that in mind, even solo creators or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—say, a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer." The motivation behind this AI‑centric approach stems from the harsh realities of today’s game market.
Brussee described the environment as "rough," emphasizing that development costs are spiralling and success is increasingly elusive. "Games are getting ever more expensive," he warned. "We need new ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines, so studios aren’t gambling their livelihoods on a single title." De Jong, Immens’s chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation has provided a "solid foundation," it also stifles innovation. "The industry now faces a series of challenges, and simply repeating old methods won’t solve them," he asserted. "We need genuine innovation, not more of the same." One of De Jong’s criticisms of current engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, often spending weeks on tasks that could be automated.
With AI, however, Immens aims to deliver a platform that molds itself to the developer’s needs. "Flexibility is key," he explained. "You should be able to swap components, append new modules, or build entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow—exact shortcuts, interfaces, and features tailored to your project." Valient also acknowledged AI’s pitfalls, noting that while the technology is "really powerful," it can quickly go off‑track if left unchecked.
To mitigate this, Immens is designed to keep users in the driver’s seat. The engine records its decision history, ensuring repeatability and transparency.
This level of control lets creators craft bespoke solutions for specific problems—like generating five characters with a particular trait—in a matter of minutes rather than weeks, dramatically reducing cost and effort. Immens’s philosophy is deliberately agnostic about workflow. The framework does not enforce a single pipeline; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
De Jong stressed that the architecture must be robust enough for users to dictate their own processes while still guaranteeing that the AI interprets instructions correctly. Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, the engine can seamlessly interact with tools such as Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines.
"When files are human‑readable, any system can parse them," Brussee said. "The AI can read, modify, and generate assets directly, enabling smoother integration across the entire production stack." The broader conversation around AI in game development is polarized. Some commentators hype "click‑to‑game" promises, claiming that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience.
Immens’s team tempers such hype, viewing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magic wand. Valient believes AI will elevate the quality of both blockbuster and indie titles by making creators more capable, even as the technology currently carries negative connotations due to its disruptive potential. Economic concerns also linger, with skeptics warning of an AI bubble inflated by unrealistic valuations. Valient counters that AI is here to stay, likening the situation to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t vanish, even though many early companies failed.
"We’re focused on building a solid engine," he said. "AI helps us iterate faster and dream bigger, but the core product must stand on its own merits." Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee cautioned against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. The startup remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explained that engine development is complex and cannot be rushed by hiring a massive team; a small, focused group is better suited to make critical architectural decisions. Currently, Immens is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release within the month. The timeline has already outpaced initial expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving roughly twice as fast. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" licensing approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy.
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."