Former Epic director is building a European rival to the Unreal and Unity game engines — 'The Immense Engine' dev sees opportunity for AI agents to 'do the work of ten or fifteen people'

A heavyweight games industry veteran says he is building a fully European alternative to popular game engines from American and Chinese companies. Arjan Brussee shared the plans in an interview hosted by the De Technoloog podcast (Dutch), reports the Video Games Chronicle.

Dutchman Brussee has some serious games industry credentials. His stint at Epic Games was split over two eras, the first one, which saw him programming the Jazz Jackrabbit games in the 90s. Then, from 2018 to 2023, Brussee returned to Epic as the global director of product management for Unreal Engine. Between those eras, Brussee became the co-founder of Guerrilla Games from 2003 (Killzone franchise), and Boss Key Productions from 2012.

The Immense Engine, a European alternative

Most readers will be familiar with game engines like Unreal and Unity (the latter was founded in Denmark but relocated to San Francisco in 2009). Brussee reckons that a European game engine will rival these offerings and alternatives from the Chinese, but The Immense Engine will be “fully European-hosted, built by Europeans, and complies with European rules and guidelines.”

Having a Europe-first game engine could be a boon for 3D simulations in defense or logistics on the continent. If it is built to adhere to the aforementioned European rules and guidelines, this could broaden its adoption in big government and local government projects, too.

Work already is underway with The Immense Engine, and other than gaming, it is clearly being developed with practical representations of 3D worlds in mind. We recently reported on the Japanese local government using U.S. game engines for large civil engineering projects, so Brussee is thinking along similar lines.

There has to be an AI angle

Software coding and AI are inevitably going to be further intertwined going forward, and Brussee embraces rather than shuns this trend. In the podcast interview, he said he sees opportunities with the rise of AI, especially by making the most of fewer human resources.

“If you are smart and know how to put a good framework of AI agents to work, you can do the work of ten or fifteen people,” noted the game industry veteran. Brussee strongly suggests the use of AI agents in developing the engine, but whether that means there will be AI tools built into The Immense Engine remains to be seen.

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