The co-founder of Guerrilla Games and former CTO of Epic Games is currently working on a new game development tool called Immense Engine.
If you follow serious news related to geopolitics, you have probably heard that European leaders want Europe to be as independent as possible and less dependent on the economy of the United States of America. Believe it or not, this also affects the world of video games, especially with the fact that two of the most popular tools for creating video games (Unreal and Unity engine) are actually American products.
In order to offer European game producers a European alternative, a new tool is currently under development called The Immense Engine. It is built by the former technical director of Epic Games and co-founder of Guerilla Games, Arjan Brusseewho took it because:
“No one else is currently building an engine that is made according to the rules and guidelines of the European Union.” – explains Brussee.
Brussee says that building a new engine from the ground up brings the opportunity to use new principles in development, such as full integration of AI technology. He also states that The Immense Engine could be used for game development as well for 3D simulations for logistical or defense purposes.
As far as European game development tools go, there are certainly a few standout examples. The Decima Engine (seen in the Horizon and Death Stranding games) was developed in the Netherlands, but is technically owned by a Japanese company. It is similar with Rockstar’s RAGE engine. CD Projekt’s RED engine was a big name for a while, but the Poles decided to replace it with Unreal. Finland’s Remedy and Ukraine’s 4A Games use their internal tools, but do not license them to others. The only European competitor to Unreal and Unity is CryEngine, but that tool is used in very few games.