Europe’s First Homegrown Game Engine Is Coming to Challenge Unreal and Unity

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Arjan Brussee, who helped found Guerrilla Games and previously led product management for Unreal Engine at Epic Games, is creating a new game engine called The Immense Engine. In a recent interview on the Dutch podcast De Technoloog, he explained that it’s intended to be a European-built alternative to the game engines currently controlled by American and Chinese companies.

Hermen Hulst’s career spans decades in the gaming industry. He started by programming games like Jazz Jackrabbit in the 1990s, then helped establish Guerrilla Games in 2003, leading production there in the beginning. He later co-founded Boss Key Productions with Cliff Bleszinski and then spent eight years at Epic Games working on Unreal Engine. Currently, he’s working as an independent developer in the Netherlands.

Currently, there isn’t a game engine fully created and maintained within Europe, adhering to European regulations. This presents an opportunity to develop a platform that European studios and businesses can use without relying on infrastructure based outside of Europe, according to a recent interview with De Technoloog.

He noted a rising need for instant 3D tools in areas like defense and logistics, where data security is more critical than in the entertainment industry. He explained that building practical 3D environments is gaining importance beyond just video games.

He criticized current game engines like Unreal, explaining they were built for older, hands-on methods where every adjustment affected the whole system. He believes this design doesn’t work well as AI becomes more involved in game development.

Brussee believes the best way forward is to integrate AI directly into the core of the system from the beginning, rather than adding it later. He suggests that with a well-designed AI system, a small team could accomplish what usually takes ten to fifteen people.

This initiative arrives as investment in artificial intelligence rapidly increases throughout the gaming industry. Companies like Krafton are prioritizing AI, with Square Enix aiming to use it for 70% of their quality assurance testing by 2027. Even EA’s CEO sees AI as central to their operations. In fact, a recent report from the Tokyo Game Show organizers revealed that over half of Japanese game developers are already integrating AI into their game creation processes.

No release window or technical demonstration for The Immense Engine has been announced.

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2026-05-11 18:46