For years, Unity and Unreal have held sway over the video‑game development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed a surge in popularity and large publishers still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the duopoly of Unity and Unreal still dominates the market. Enter Immers, a fledgling engine built by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game‑making history, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine that improves on the status quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform. "There’s an opportunity now to build an engine that simply didn’t exist a couple of years ago," he said.
He highlighted how AI‑augmented programming can let developers start from a clean slate, offering “full functionality fast” under tight guidance and control. Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI component is not about prompting a system to generate a finished product. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
"AI can reason about massive amounts of data and code," he noted. "If we design the codebase with that in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or any other feature without being confined to a limited scripting layer.
The AI simply accelerates the extension process." The motivation for this ambitious project stems from the grim realities of today’s game market. Brussee described the environment as "rough," pointing out that development costs are soaring and the odds of commercial success are dwindling.
"We need new ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and cut timelines," he argued. The goal is to break the costly, high‑risk cycle that threatens studios of all sizes. De Jong, the chief product officer, warned that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation. "The industry is facing a host of challenges, and merely iterating on existing solutions isn’t enough. We need genuine innovation, not more of the same," he asserted. He singled out the monolithic nature of current engines as a major pain point: developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
According to De Jong, an AI‑enhanced engine can be far more adaptive. "It must be flexible—allowing you to swap, append, or completely remodel components. I can build tools tailored to my background, with the exact shortcuts, UI, and features my project demands," he explained. This level of customization is meant to empower developers rather than force them into a one‑size‑fits‑all pipeline.
Valient also cautioned that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immers is being built so users retain full visibility and control over the AI’s actions. "You see the history of what the engine is doing, making the process repeatable and reliable," he said. He gave an example of generating multiple characters with specific traits: what once took weeks can now be drafted over a coffee break, then refined with a bespoke tool that can be discarded after a handful of uses.
This dramatically reduces the cost of iterative design. Flexibility is baked into Immers’ core philosophy.
De Jong emphasized that the engine does not impose a particular workflow or a predetermined level of AI involvement. "You decide how much AI you want and where you want to apply it," he said, adding that the architecture must ensure the AI interprets instructions correctly.
Interoperability is another pillar of the project. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, Immers aims to play nicely with the broader ecosystem—Blender, Maya, generative‑art tools, and more. "If everything speaks the same language, the AI can read and manipulate those files seamlessly," Brussee noted.
This openness contrasts with many existing engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering smooth integration. The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized. Some pundits on LinkedIn hype a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling fear and skepticism. Immers’ team acknowledges that a "click‑to‑game" scenario might someday be possible, but they view AI strictly as a tool that amplifies human creativity rather than replaces it.
"AI is making everyone better; it’s a catalyst, not a replacement," Valient said. Economic concerns also loom large. Critics warn that AI‑focused startups may be caught in a valuation bubble reminiscent of the dot‑com era. Valient responded that while hype cycles come and go, the underlying technology is here to stay.
"The internet didn’t disappear after the dot‑com bust, and AI won’t vanish either. Some companies will fail, but those that deliver real value will survive," he argued. Funding for Immers remains modest.
The founders have secured "first commitments" but have not disclosed exact numbers, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee warned against over‑capitalization, noting that excessive cash can breed complacency. "Startups need to stay scrappy," he laughed. The company itself remains tiny—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This lean structure is intentional: building an engine is a complex undertaking that benefits from focused decision‑making rather than a massive, unwieldy team.
De Jong explained the delicate balance between having enough resources to hit a market window and avoiding the pitfalls of a bloated workforce. Immers is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing flow.
The team plans to release the demo within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced their original schedule. "We thought we’d need until the end of the year, but we’re two‑times faster than expected," Brussee admitted, highlighting the productivity boost AI can provide. Business‑model discussions are still early.
While Immers admires Epic’s revenue‑share philosophy—"we succeed when you succeed"—they are not ready to make concrete commitments yet. The ultimate ambition, according to Brussee, is to empower creators to push the medium forward. "We love games, we love artistic expression, and we want to see more risk‑taking and creativity. If our tech can spark that innovation, it would be amazing."