For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for video‑game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of Steam releases in 2025. While open‑source options such as Godot have gained traction and large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the dominance of Unity and Unreal remains largely unchallenged.
Enter Immens, a startup founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑development powerhouses, spanning Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they argue that the market still has room for a fresh engine, and that modern technology—particularly AI‑assisted programming—creates an opening that didn’t exist just a few years ago. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained, “There’s an opportunity now to build a new engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago. With AI‑supported programming, you can start building things from scratch again, under a lot of guidance and control, and get full functionality quickly.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are employing is not the “prompt‑to‑art” hype that many developers fear. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
“If we design the code with AI in mind, even small teams or solo developers can plug in new features—custom particle systems, bespoke gameplay mechanics, you name it—without being limited to a tiny scripting layer,” he said. The goal is to let creators use AI as a rapid‑prototyping assistant, extending the engine faster than traditional hand‑coding would allow.
The motivation behind Immens’s AI‑centric approach stems from the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the situation as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing and that many studios struggle to stay afloat.
“We need new ways of working, more efficient processes that let us make games with fewer people, less time, and smaller budgets, so studios aren’t gambling their livelihoods away,” he warned. De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that standardisation has provided a solid foundation, it also means the industry is stuck in a rut. “We’re at a point where continuing to do things the same way won’t cut it. We need innovation, not more of the same,” he asserted.
He criticized the monolithic nature of existing engines, which force developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, De Jong envisions an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs, allowing interchangeable components, custom tools, and personalized interfaces. Valient acknowledged AI’s power but also its volatility.
“It’s really powerful, but it can go off the rails quickly if you’re not paying attention,” he cautioned. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable results.
This level of oversight enables creators to generate, for example, five unique characters with a single AI‑driven tool, then discard the tool after use—something that previously would have required weeks of manual labor. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s design. De Jong stressed that the engine does not impose a single workflow.
“It’s up to you how you want to use it, and how much AI you want to incorporate,” he said. The architecture is built to accommodate open standards, meaning text‑based files can be read and edited by any compatible software. Brussee highlighted the advantage: “If you’re using Blender, Maya, or any generative tool, you can plug it straight into Immens because everything speaks the same open‑standard language.” This openness contrasts with many current engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering interoperability. The broader community remains divided on AI’s role in game creation.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype a future where a single prompt could spawn a Grand‑Theft‑Auto‑scale world, sparking fear of “click‑to‑game” solutions. The Immens team acknowledges that such extremes may eventually be possible, but they view AI primarily as a tool that amplifies human creativity rather than replaces it. “Big games and everything in between will be made better because AI makes everyone more capable,” Valient explained.
“It has negative connotations now because it’s disrupting at an unprecedented scale, but it’s just another tool.” Economic anxieties also surface, with critics warning of an AI bubble inflating valuations without substance. Valient dismissed the panic, drawing a parallel to the dot‑com era: “Is AI going away?
No. The internet didn’t disappear after the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the technology survived and thrived.
We’re building a solid engine; AI simply helps us move faster and dream bigger.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments,” though the founders have not disclosed amounts, describing them as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency: “There’s always a danger of being a startup with too much cash—you become lazy when you should stay scrappy.” The team is deliberately lean: the three founders plus a handful of helpers.
De Jong explained the trade‑off: “You can’t throw a million people at an engine and expect it to work. You need a small, focused group to make deliberate decisions, yet you also need enough resources to hit the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise.” Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. Brussee revealed that the project, which began in April, is already progressing twice as fast as initially projected. While timelines remain fluid, the early momentum is promising.
Regarding the business model, Brussee hinted at an approach similar to Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admitted it’s too early for concrete statements. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower creators to push the medium forward, encouraging risk‑taking and artistic expression.
“We love games and want to see more creativity and innovation built on this kind of tech,” Brussee concluded. “That would be amazing."