Unity and Unreal have long held sway over game development, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction, most large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving the market largely monopolized by the two giants.
Enter Immens, a venture founded by three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh engine that can address the shortcomings of the status quo. Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they are setting out to challenge the entrenched dominance of Unity and Unreal. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine. "A couple of years ago the idea of building a modern engine from scratch seemed unrealistic," he said.
"Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from a clean slate and bring full‑featured tools to market much faster than before." Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarified that their use of AI differs from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑asset” narrative that dominates headlines. "We’re not trying to conjure whole games with a single sentence," he noted. "Our AI is baked into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
Because AI can reason over large codebases, we can design the engine so that even a solo developer can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers." The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the environment as "rough" and warned that production costs are spiralling. "Games are becoming more expensive to make, and the risk to studios is growing.
We need new workflows that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines, otherwise creators will keep betting their livelihoods on uncertain returns," he argued. De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine market has entered a phase of "standardisation and consolidation." While this has produced stable foundations, it also stifles innovation. "The industry now faces a suite of challenges—from rising costs to talent shortages. Continuing to iterate on the same monolithic tools isn’t enough.
We need a paradigm shift, not just another incremental update," he said. One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the "monolithic approach" of existing engines.
Developers often have to adapt to rigid pipelines, proprietary file formats, and limited extensibility. By contrast, Immens aims to be a chameleon that reshapes itself to the developer’s workflow. "Flexibility is key," he explained.
"You should be able to swap modules, append new functionality, or craft entirely custom tools that match your personal shortcuts, UI preferences, and project requirements." Valient acknowledged that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it offers tremendous power, it can also produce unpredictable results if left unchecked. "We design Immens so that users stay in the driver’s seat. Every AI‑generated change is logged, reproducible, and transparent, allowing developers to audit and refine the output.
This level of control turns AI from a black box into a reliable assistant." The team envisions workflows where a designer could, for example, generate five unique characters with specific traits in the time it takes to sip coffee. Previously such a task might have required weeks of manual iteration; with AI‑augmented tools, the same output becomes a repeatable, low‑cost operation.
This, according to Brussee, could democratise high‑quality production and free studios to experiment more boldly. Immens is deliberately built without imposing a single prescribed pipeline. De Jong stressed that developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where to apply it.
"Our architecture is modular; you can opt‑in to AI for certain stages—like asset generation or code scaffolding—while keeping other parts fully manual if you prefer. The goal is to give creators agency, not to lock them into a one‑size‑fits‑all workflow." Interoperability is another cornerstone of the project. By adhering to open standards and text‑based file formats, Immens can communicate seamlessly with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, or other generative platforms.
"When files are human‑readable, any tool can parse them. The AI can then manipulate those assets directly, opening up a truly composable ecosystem," Brussee said. He believes this openness will solve the long‑standing friction where proprietary engines act as isolated islands, hindering cross‑tool collaboration.
The broader AI debate in games is heated. Critics on platforms like LinkedIn warn of a future where a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, sparking fears of “click‑to‑game” shortcuts that undermine craftsmanship. Immens’ founders acknowledge the hype but treat AI as a "tool" rather than a replacement for human creativity.
Valient remarked, "AI will make everyone better, not replace them. The negative perception stems from the scale of disruption we’ve never seen before." Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many questioning whether the sector is a bubble.
Valient drew a parallel to the dot‑com era: "The internet didn’t disappear after the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the underlying technology endured. We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and expands what’s possible. Whether it’s a bubble is uncertain, but the technology isn’t going away." Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency. "Start‑ups need to stay scrappy.
Too much money can make you lazy, and the lean mindset often drives the most innovative solutions," he laughed. The company remains tiny—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explained the trade‑off: "Building an engine is complex; you can’t throw a million engineers at it and expect instant results.
A small, focused team can iterate quickly, make tough decisions, and stay aligned with the vision. At the same time, we need enough resources to hit the market window created by AI’s rise. Balancing size, speed, and funding is the challenge we’re navigating." Immens is currently targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aims to release the demo within the month, already moving at double the speed they initially projected when they launched in April.
"Timelines are fluid when you’re pioneering new tech," Brussee admitted, "but we’re pleased to be ahead of schedule." Regarding the business model, Brussee hinted that Immens appreciates Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" licensing philosophy but stopped short of committing to any specific arrangement. The focus, for now, is on delivering a compelling engine that proves its value to developers. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will spark a new wave of creativity and risk‑taking in games. "We love games as an art form and want to see more daring, innovative experiences.
If our technology can lower barriers and empower creators, that would be amazing," Brussee concluded.