A veteran of Epic Games has started developing a European analogue of the Unreal Engine

Immense Engine – a European “Unreal”

Arjan Brussee, co‑founder of Guerrilla Games, which created Horizon Zero Dawn, and a Dutch developer who worked on the classic 1990s series Jazz Jackrabbit, is developing a new game engine – Immense Engine. Its goal is to become a full‑blown European alternative to the American Unreal Engine.

Brussee spent more than ten years at Epic Games, the creator of Unreal, and now positions his project as “completely hosted in Europe, built by Europeans, and compliant with local legislation.”

What Brussee says himself
In the Dutch tech podcast *De Technoloog* he noted:

> “No one is currently creating an engine that is fully hosted in Europe, built by Europeans, and complies with European rules and standards.”

He emphasized that Immense Engine is intended not only for games. Creating usable 3‑D worlds is becoming increasingly important – from entertainment to scientific and industrial tasks.

Why it matters
Unreal Engine already underpins masterpieces such as Fortnite, Gears of War, BioShock Infinite, Mass Effect, and Batman: Arkham City. Beyond games it’s used for virtual sets in the series “The Mandalorian” and even for child‑friendly content on YouTube.

European equivalents – CryEngine from German studio Crytek (used in Far Cry, became the basis for Crysis) – remain largely first‑person shooters and have not gained widespread recognition.

AI as a key factor
Brussee openly bets on artificial intelligence:

> “The development of AI means that creating such critically important software must be approached differently… if you’re smart enough and know how to deploy a good combination of AI agents, you can perform the work of ten‑fifteen people.”

According to him, much of the project’s code will be generated with the help of AI.

In the context of European policy
Recently the French government began migrating state agency computers from Windows to Linux to reduce dependence on American technology. Immense Engine fits into this trend, but a precise release date has not yet been announced.