For many years the game‑development landscape has been dominated by two heavyweight engines—Unity and Unreal. In 2025 those two platforms were responsible for roughly seventy percent of the titles that appeared on Steam, while open‑source alternatives like Godot have made noticeable strides but still occupy a niche.
Large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions, such as Capcom’s RE Engine, leaving the market largely consolidated around the two giants. Against this backdrop, three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immens, a new AI‑enhanced engine that they believe can carve out a fresh space in the market. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑tech: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio argues that the status quo is ripe for disruption and that the tools of tomorrow can be built today.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the possibilities that didn’t exist a couple of years ago are now within reach.” He points to AI‑assisted programming as a catalyst that allows developers to start from a clean slate while still benefiting from strong guidance and control. According to Brussee, this combination can deliver full‑featured functionality much faster than traditional pipelines.
Valient, who serves as Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the company’s use of AI is not about the flashy “prompt‑to‑asset” hype that dominates social media. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. "AI can reason over large codebases and data sets," he says.
"If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system, a bespoke animation tool, or any other feature without being confined to a limited scripting layer. The AI helps you extend the engine quickly, but the core remains under your direct control." The motivation for this ambitious project stems from the current economic pressures in game development. Brussee describes the market as "rough" and warns that development costs are spiralling upward, making it harder for small studios to survive.
He asks whether new workflows can break the cycle of ever‑increasing budgets and team sizes. The answer, he believes, lies in more efficient processes that let creators produce high‑quality games with fewer resources, thereby reducing financial risk for studios and their staff. De Jong, Immens’s chief product officer, adds that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation has produced a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. "We’re at a point where the industry faces a series of challenges, and simply repeating the old methods won’t cut it," he says.
"What we need now is genuine innovation, not more of the same." One of De Jong’s criticisms of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. Immens aims to flip that model on its head by using AI to make the engine adapt to the developer’s needs, not the other way around.
He envisions a system where users can swap components, append new modules, and modify core behavior on the fly. "I can build tools that match my personal workflow—exact shortcuts, precise UI layouts, and the exact features my team requires," he explains. "The engine should be a malleable foundation, not a locked‑in box." Valient acknowledges that AI is a powerful but volatile tool. Without careful oversight, it can produce unexpected results.
To mitigate this, Immens is being built with transparency in mind: users can see what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure that processes are repeatable. This level of control is crucial for creative pipelines where a designer might need to generate five characters with a specific trait in minutes—a task that previously could take weeks.
With Immens, such rapid iteration becomes feasible, allowing developers to prototype, test, and discard ideas without incurring prohibitive costs. Flexibility is a core design principle for Immens. De Jong stresses that the engine does not enforce a single workflow; instead, it provides a framework that developers can shape to their preferences, including how much AI assistance they want to employ.
The architecture is deliberately open, allowing teams to decide where AI adds value and where manual control is preferable. Interoperability is another priority. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, Immens ensures that assets from tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative applications can be imported seamlessly.
Brussee notes that when files are human‑readable, AI can parse and manipulate them directly, fostering smarter interfaces across the entire toolchain. This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, making integration cumbersome. The conversation around AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn predict a future where a simple prompt can generate a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling fears of a "click‑to‑game" utopia. Immens’s team tempers those expectations, describing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magical creator. Valient believes AI will elevate the skill of every developer, making large‑scale projects more attainable while preserving the artistry of game making.
Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with critics warning of a speculative bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying technology— the internet—persisted and flourished.
He argues that AI will follow a similar trajectory: some startups will fail, but solid products built on genuine value will endure. Immens’s focus is on delivering a robust engine; AI simply accelerates development and expands creative horizons.
Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency and diminish the scrappy mindset needed for a lean startup. The current team consists of the three founders and a handful of helpers, a size they consider optimal for making deliberate design decisions without the overhead of a large organization. Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act.
De Jong explains that building a game engine is a complex undertaking that cannot be solved by simply hiring a thousand engineers. Instead, a focused group must iteratively refine the architecture, make hard choices, and learn from each milestone.
At the same time, they must act quickly to capture the window of opportunity presented by the AI wave. Immens is already working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The goal is to release this demo within the month, demonstrating how the engine can streamline content creation. Brussee admits that their original timeline—targeting the end of the year—has been halved, underscoring the speed gains they claim AI can deliver.
The business model is still taking shape. While Immens admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, the founders say it’s too early to commit to a specific approach.
Ultimately, their ambition is to empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking, artistic expression, and innovation in games. In summary, Immens represents a bold attempt to reimagine the game‑engine paradigm by embedding AI at its core, championing openness, flexibility, and developer autonomy.
If successful, it could lower barriers for indie studios, accelerate prototyping, and spark a new wave of creativity in an industry that many feel has become too homogeneous and cost‑prohibitive. The coming months will reveal whether this veteran‑led venture can deliver on its promise and reshape the future of game development.