For years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, together powering roughly 70 % of all Steam releases slated for 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have begun to gain traction, the majority of large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example. In short, the engine market has long been dominated by a duopoly.
Enter Immens, the brainchild of three seasoned veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh entrant that addresses the shortcomings of today’s offerings. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, with experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio is now setting out to challenge the status quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine. “A few years ago, this kind of platform simply didn’t exist,” he said.
“With AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again, under tight guidance, and deliver full‑featured tools much faster than before.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are integrating is not the typical “prompt‑to‑content” gimmick that has become commonplace. 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 noted. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without being limited to a handful of scripts.” This approach, he argues, empowers creators to extend the engine quickly and safely.
The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development. Brussee described the market as “rough,” emphasizing that production costs are spiraling upward, making it harder for small teams to survive. “We need new ways of working that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he said.
“Otherwise studios risk their very livelihood.” De Jong, the chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating the old formula won’t cut it,” he argued.
“We need a breakthrough, not more of the same.” One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers often have to bend to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
With AI, Immens aims to flip that script, offering an engine that adapts to the developer rather than the other way around. “Flexibility is key,” he said.
“You should be able to swap components, append new features, and build tools that match your personal workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and specific functionality you need for your project.” Valient is candid about AI’s double‑edged sword. While it is “really powerful,” it can also veer off course if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep users in full control of the engine’s actions, providing transparent histories and repeatable processes. “You’ll know exactly what the AI did and why,” he explained.
“That visibility lets you create disposable tools for one‑off tasks—like generating five uniquely‑behaved characters in the time it used to take weeks—without incurring massive costs.” Flexibility extends to the degree of AI involvement as well. De Jong stresses that Immens does not impose a single workflow; instead, the framework is deliberately modular, allowing teams to decide how much AI they want to leverage and where. “The architecture is designed so you can pick and choose,” he said. “The AI must understand the context, but the choice to use it remains entirely yours.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens’s design philosophy.
By embracing open, text‑based standards, the engine can communicate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. “When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them,” Brussee remarked.
“That openness lets us plug in third‑party assets and workflows without the usual friction you see with closed‑source engines.” The broader conversation around AI in game development is polarized. Some critics warn of a future where a simple prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, reducing artistry to a click.
Immens acknowledges that such “click‑to‑game” fantasies might one day be possible, but they view AI strictly as a catalyst for human creativity, not a replacement. “AI makes everyone better,” Valient asserted.
“It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused, but it also unlocks unprecedented possibilities.” Economic anxieties also swirl around the AI boom, with many questioning whether the sector is a bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: while many startups vanished, the internet itself endured and flourished.
“AI isn’t disappearing,” he said. “Our goal is to build a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development and inspire bigger dreams.
Whether the market is a bubble is uncertain, but good technology tends to survive.” Funding remains modest for now. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital raise as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against over‑funding, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “Too much money can make you lazy.” The team itself remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers.
They believe a small, focused group is essential for making deliberate architectural decisions without the chaos of a massive workforce. “Building an engine is complex; you can’t throw a million engineers at it and expect miracles,” De Jong explained. “You need a tight team that can iterate quickly and seize 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 this month.
The timeline has already outpaced their original expectations; what they thought would take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. “We’re moving twice as fast as we planned,” Brussee said, underscoring the difficulty of predicting milestones in such a fast‑evolving space. Business‑model discussions are still early.
While Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” revenue share, they admit it’s too soon to commit to a specific approach. Ultimately, Brussee hopes the engine will enable creators to push artistic boundaries and take risks. “We love games and want to see more daring, innovative experiences,” he concluded.
“If our technology can help bring that vision to life, that would be amazing."