For years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to platforms for game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made noticeable strides, the market remains dominated by a handful of proprietary solutions – even major studios such as Capcom still rely on their own in‑house RE Engine. In this landscape, three seasoned developers – Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient – see an opening for a fresh approach.
Their startup, Immens, aims to build an AI‑enhanced engine that challenges the status quo. The trio’s résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new engine, noting that “a few years ago this simply didn’t exist.” He believes AI‑assisted programming can return developers to a state of true creation from a clean slate, allowing rapid delivery of fully‑featured prototypes under tight supervision.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stresses that their use of AI differs from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑asset” narrative. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explains.
“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.” The goal is to let creators augment the engine swiftly, using AI as a productivity accelerator rather than a magical shortcut. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development.
Brussee describes the environment as “rough,” pointing out that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for small teams to survive. “We need new ways of working that cut expenses, shrink team sizes, and shorten schedules,” he says. The founders envision an ecosystem where a modest budget and a lean crew can still deliver high‑quality experiences without jeopardising the studio’s future. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a stable foundation, he argues that the industry now faces a series of challenges that demand innovation, not further standardisation. He criticises the “monolithic approach” of existing engines, where developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. With AI, Immens intends to offer a malleable platform that molds itself to the user’s workflow.
“Flexibility is key,” De Jong says. “You should be able to swap components, extend functionality, and craft bespoke tools that match your personal workflow – the shortcuts, the UI layout, the exact features you need for your project.” This philosophy extends to the engine’s openness. By embracing text‑based, open‑standard file formats, Immens ensures that external tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI system can communicate seamlessly.
Brussee notes that when files are human‑readable, AI can parse and manipulate them directly, fostering a more collaborative ecosystem. The team is also realistic about AI’s limits.
Valient acknowledges that while the technology is powerful, it can “go off the rails quickly” if left unchecked. Immens therefore places control firmly in the developer’s hands: users can track the engine’s actions, review its decision history, and guarantee repeatable results. This transparency enables rapid iteration – for example, generating five unique characters with specific traits in the time it once took weeks, then discarding the temporary tool after use. Immens does not prescribe a single workflow.
De Jong stresses that the framework is deliberately agnostic, allowing teams to decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The engine’s architecture is built to accommodate varying degrees of automation while ensuring the AI interprets instructions correctly. Beyond creative concerns, the founders address the broader skepticism surrounding AI in games.
Some critics warn of a future where entire experiences like Grand Theft Auto could be conjured with a single prompt. Immens sees such “click‑to‑game” visions as a distant possibility, but insists that AI should remain a tool that amplifies human talent rather than replaces it. Valient believes AI will make developers better, even if the current discourse paints it in a negative light due to its disruptive scale. Economic anxieties also surface, especially regarding the hype‑driven valuations in the AI sector.
Valient draws a parallel with the dot‑com bubble, noting that while many companies will fade, the underlying technology endures. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply helps us move faster and think bigger,” he says. Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the team is confident that a well‑crafted product will survive any correction.
Funding details are still under wraps. Immens has secured its first commitments, describing the amount as “reasonable,” and warns against excessive capital that could breed complacency. The company remains intentionally small – the three founders plus a handful of helpers – to stay scrappy and agile. Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act.
De Jong explains that a game engine is a complex undertaking that cannot be rushed by hiring hundreds of engineers. Instead, a focused group can make thoughtful decisions and iterate efficiently. At the same time, timing is crucial; the window for AI‑driven disruption may be limited, so the team must secure enough resources to seize the opportunity without over‑extending. Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI editing workflow, slated for release later this month.
The timeline has already outpaced their original expectations – what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. Brussee cautions that predicting milestones remains challenging, but the rapid progress is encouraging. Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to formalise a revenue strategy. 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 creativity,” he concludes. “If our technology can help bring that to life, that would be amazing."