For years, Unity and Unreal have ruled the game‑development landscape, together accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has carved out a modest niche and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely settled into a duopoly that leaves little room for alternatives. Enter Immens, the brainchild of three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who's‑who of modern gaming, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they argue that the status quo still has gaps and that a fresh engine, built with artificial intelligence at its core, could fill them. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform.
"A few years ago the idea of an AI‑enhanced engine didn’t make sense," he said. "Now, with AI‑supported programming, we can start from scratch again and get full‑featured tools up and running much faster than before." Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are leveraging isn’t the kind that simply generates assets from a text prompt. "Our AI is baked into the engine’s architecture so it can reason about large codebases and data sets," he noted. "The goal is to make the engine highly extensible.
Smaller teams or solo developers should be able to plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being limited to a tiny scripting layer. AI helps them prototype and integrate those extensions quickly." The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the environment as "rough" and increasingly unaffordable. Development budgets are ballooning, and the risk of financial ruin for indie studios is growing.
"We need new ways of working that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines," he argued. "If we can make the creation process more efficient, developers won’t have to gamble their livelihoods on a single hit." De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation.
"The industry faces a slew of challenges, and simply repeating the old playbook won’t solve them," he said. "We need a paradigm shift—flexibility, not monoliths." Current engines often force developers into a monolithic workflow, complete with proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines.
De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs instead. "You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and redesign the interface to match your personal workflow," he explained. "Imagine a developer creating a custom toolbar with shortcuts tailored to their project’s exact requirements—something that feels natural rather than forced." Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. "We’re designing Immens so that the user remains in full control," he said.
"You can trace every decision the AI makes, reproduce it, and roll back if necessary. This transparency turns AI from a black box into a reliable assistant." One of the most compelling promises of the platform is the ability to streamline repetitive creative tasks. Previously, generating five characters with a specific trait might have taken weeks of manual work.
With AI‑assisted tooling, a designer could sketch the concept over coffee, let the engine generate the assets, and then reuse the same pipeline for future iterations—drastically reducing cost and time. Flexibility is baked into Immens’ core architecture.
De Jong emphasized that the engine does not impose a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. "Our framework is modular, so you can opt‑in to AI features only where they add value," he said.
"The challenge is ensuring the AI understands the context correctly, which is why we’re focusing on robust training data and clear interfaces." Interoperability is another pillar of the project. By embracing open, text‑based standards, Immens aims to play nicely with existing tools such as Blender, Maya, and various generative pipelines.
"When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them," Brussee noted. "That means the AI can manipulate assets directly, and studios can plug in their favorite third‑party applications without fighting proprietary barriers." The broader industry reaction to AI in games is mixed.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the notion of "click‑to‑game" experiences, suggesting that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immens’ founders temper such hype, positioning AI as a powerful tool rather than a magic wand.
"AI will make developers better, not replace them," Valient asserted. "It’s disruptive, but that disruption is what will drive higher quality experiences." Economic concerns also linger. Critics warn that AI‑focused startups may be part of a speculative bubble. Valient responded by drawing a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; only the weakest companies fell away.
"Our focus is on building a solid engine that delivers real value," he said. "If AI is a bubble, we’ll survive because we’re creating something genuinely useful." Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency. "Startups need to stay scrappy," he laughed.
"Too much money can make you lazy." The team itself is intentionally lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. De Jong explained the trade‑off: a massive crew doesn’t automatically translate to faster engine development; nuanced decisions require a small, focused group. At the same time, they must assemble enough talent and capital to seize the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise.
Immens is currently working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The goal is to release the demo within the month, a timeline that already outpaces the founders' original end‑of‑year estimate by a factor of two. "We’re moving faster than we thought possible," Brussee admitted, underscoring the unpredictable nature of AI‑accelerated development.
Regarding the business model, Brussee hinted at an approach similar to Epic’s revenue‑share scheme—"we succeed when you succeed"—but admitted it’s still early to make definitive statements. Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will rekindle creativity and risk‑taking in the industry. "We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions," Brussee concluded. "If our technology can enable developers to experiment without fearing financial ruin, that would be amazing."