{"rewrite":{"id":"r_3e84bae070a7e13907edeaf5","clusterId":"c_f8eba4b1cb8ee029eb6a1845","slug":"unreal-veteran-sjoerd-de-jong-joins-ai-native-immense-engine","model":"deepseek-v4-flash:free","headline":"Unreal Veteran Sjoerd De Jong Joins AI-Native Immense Engine","summary":"Sjoerd De Jong, a 12-year Epic Games veteran and Unreal Engine evangelist who left in June, has joined the development of Immense Engine. The engine, built by former Unreal developers including Arjan Brussee, aims to replace Unreal Engine and Unity with a clean, modern, AI-native design that integrates external AI agents from the start.","whyItMatters":"A veteran Unreal Engine evangelist joining a startup engine signals a credible attempt to break the two-engine market dominance with an AI-native design.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eDe Jong told This Week in Videogames about his new role, with PC Gamer among those reporting. He had worked with Unreal Engine since its 1998 debut, modding Unreal and Unreal Tournament before joining Epic in 2014 as an evangelist.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eImmense Engine is being developed with Dutch startup by Arjan Brussee, another former Unreal Engine developer. It is designed to comply with EU regulations and to accept external AI agents like Claude and ChatGPT as modular components.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDe Jong positions the engine as an alternative to Unreal Engine and Unity, arguing that the two engines\u0026#39; long development has left them bloated with legacy code. He stressed that Immense Engine is not AI-only, but AI-friendly, and that he does not want a future where pressing a button produces millions of games.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Sjoerd De Jong's move to Immense Engine signals that Epic's own engine may be losing its edge in the AI era.","twitterPost":"Sjoerd De Jong's jump from Epic to Immense Engine raises questions about Unreal's AI readiness.","threadsPost":"Sjoerd De Jong's departure from Epic after 12 years to join Immense Engine is a signal. The engine he helped build may not be the future he wants to build. The AI-native pitch is a direct challenge to Unreal and Unity.","newsletterBlurb":"Sjoerd De Jong, a 12-year Epic Games veteran and Unreal Engine evangelist, has joined the development of Immense Engine, an AI-native engine built by former Unreal developers. The engine aims to offer a clean, modern alternative to Unreal Engine and Unity, with EU regulatory compliance and modular AI agent integration from the start.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260728-456977/\",\"title\":\"元Unreal Engineのベテラン開発者集結、野心的\\\"新ゲームエンジン\\\"開発中。UE＆Unityに代わる「AIネイティブ」エンジン目指す\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4880,"outputTokens":601,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1786091881,"createdAt":"2026-08-07T08:29:31.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-07T08:31:44.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T08:29:31.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_f8eba4b1cb8ee029eb6a1845","canonicalTitle":"元Unreal Engineのベテラン開発者集結、野心的“新ゲームエンジン”開発中。UE＆Unityに代わる「AIネイティブ」エンジン目指す","representativeArticleId":"a_b048f6546d8769a6e26a528f","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Immense Engine\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Sjoerd De Jong\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-07-28T03:31:52.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-07-28T03:31:52.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-07T08:31:45.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260728-456977/","title":"元Unreal Engineのベテラン開発者集結、野心的“新ゲームエンジン”開発中。UE＆Unityに代わる「AIネイティブ」エンジン目指す"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Immense Engine"],"studios":[],"people":["Sjoerd De Jong"],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}