For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been locked into the two giants. Yet three seasoned developers, Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient, have launched Immens with the conviction that there is still space for a fresh, more adaptable engine. The founders’ 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.
Their combined background fuels a belief that the status quo can be improved. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the tools that existed a few years ago simply aren’t enough anymore.” He argues that AI‑assisted programming now lets developers start from a clean slate while still retaining tight guidance and control, enabling rapid delivery of full‑featured experiences.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, is careful to distinguish his vision of AI from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑asset” narrative. He describes the AI component as a means of making the engine itself highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he says.
“If we design the architecture with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system, a bespoke animation pipeline, or any other feature without being confined to a limited scripting layer.” This philosophy aims to empower creators to iterate faster, using AI as an accelerator rather than a replacement for craftsmanship. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development. Brussee paints a bleak picture: “Making games is getting increasingly expensive, and the risk to studios is growing. We need new workflows that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and shorten timelines so developers aren’t gambling their livelihoods.” De Jong, the chief product officer, echoes this sentiment, noting that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation has provided a stable foundation, he argues that the industry now needs genuine innovation, not just incremental refinements. One of De Jong’s key criticisms of existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers are forced to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. With AI, Immens aims to flip that relationship: the engine should adapt to the user’s needs. “Flexibility is essential,” he says. “You should be able to swap modules, append new tools, and tailor the interface to match your personal workflow.
Whether you need a specific shortcut set or a custom UI, the engine should let you build it.” Valient acknowledges AI’s power but also its volatility. “If you’re not paying attention, the system can go off the rails quickly,” he warns. To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep developers in the driver’s seat.
Every AI‑generated action is logged, repeatable, and transparent, allowing creators to understand exactly how a result was produced. This traceability, he argues, turns a potentially opaque black box into a reliable assistant.
The team envisions a future where mundane, time‑consuming tasks—like generating five characters with specific traits—can be accomplished in minutes over a coffee, rather than weeks of manual labor. Such rapid prototyping, once the domain of high‑budget studios, could become commonplace for small teams, dramatically lowering the barrier to entry. Immens’ architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that users decide how much AI to integrate and where to apply it.
The engine also embraces open standards, making it interoperable with tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines. “When files are text‑based, any software can read them,” Brussee notes.
“That openness lets AI parse and manipulate assets across the ecosystem, creating smarter interfaces between otherwise siloed applications.” The broader AI conversation in game development is fraught with skepticism. Some pundits on LinkedIn predict a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world, fueling fears of “click‑to‑game” shortcuts. Immens’ founders see AI more modestly—as a catalyst that makes developers better, not a replacement for human creativity. Valient believes the technology will ultimately be judged by how responsibly it is used, much like any powerful tool throughout history.
Economic anxieties also linger, with many questioning whether the AI boom is a bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear, but many over‑hyped companies fell away, leaving the robust infrastructure behind. Immens aims to be one of those lasting contributions—an engine that leverages AI to accelerate development while remaining grounded in solid engineering.
Funding remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed amounts, describing the capital as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excessive cash, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explains that building an engine is a complex, nuanced task that benefits from a small, focused team rather than a massive workforce.
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 was projected for year‑end is now arriving within months. While the business model is still evolving, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach but admits it’s too early to commit. Ultimately, the trio hopes Immens will inspire a new wave of daring, artistic games.
“We love games and want to see more risk‑taking and creativity,” Brussee says. “If our technology can help developers push boundaries and bring fresh experiences to players, that would be amazing.”