For years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the game‑development arena, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made notable strides, most large publishers still lean on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, leaving the market largely monopolised by the two giants. Enter Immersive, a startup founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh entrant and for meaningful improvement. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the gaming world, with experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they aim to challenge the entrenched status‑quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is right for a new engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. "With AI‑assisted programming, you can start building from the ground up again," he explained.
"Guided by smart tools, you can achieve full‑featured functionality far more quickly than traditional pipelines allow." Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they are leveraging is not the flashy "prompt‑to‑content" variety that dominates headlines. Instead, their AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. "AI can reason about massive codebases and data sets. If we design the core with that in mind, even a solo developer can extend the engine beyond simple scripting.
Want a custom particle system? You can drop it in directly. That’s the kind of flexibility we’re targeting," he said. The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from a bleak outlook on the current economics of game development.
Brussee describes the environment as "rough"—costs are soaring, development cycles are lengthening, and the risk to studios is escalating. "We need new ways to work, more efficient processes that let smaller teams deliver high‑quality games on tighter budgets and timelines," he argued.
The trio sees AI as a catalyst to break the costly, iterative loop that threatens the livelihood of many developers. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. "The industry now faces a series of challenges, and merely iterating on the old model won’t solve them. We need a different approach—innovation, not just refinement," he asserted.
A key criticism of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must often adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, limiting their ability to tailor tools to specific project needs.
De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user rather than the other way around. "It must be flexible: interchangeable, extensible, and capable of hosting bespoke tools. I want to be able to craft an interface with the exact shortcuts and features my team requires. That level of customisation is essential for modern development," he explained.
Valient acknowledges AI’s double‑edged sword. While it is "really powerful," it can also "go off the rails" without careful oversight. Immersive’s answer is to keep the developer in the loop. "When you use the engine, you see exactly what it’s doing, you can trace its history, and you can repeat processes reliably.
You can also spin up throw‑away tools for specific tasks—like generating five characters with a particular trait—in minutes instead of weeks," he said, emphasizing the importance of transparency and control. Flexibility is baked into Immersive’s philosophy. The engine does not impose a singular workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
De Jong stresses that the architecture must accommodate varying degrees of automation while ensuring the AI interprets instructions correctly. Interoperability is another cornerstone. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, Immersive aims to make the engine a cooperative partner rather than a closed silo.
"If a file is plain text, any tool can read it. AI can parse and manipulate those files, enabling seamless integration with software like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline.
This openness is a major differentiator," Brussee noted. The broader industry conversation around AI in games is mixed, with some commentators warning of a future where a single prompt could generate a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immersive acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a powerful tool, not a replacement for creativity.
Valient believes AI will ultimately make developers better, even if the term currently carries negative connotations due to its disruptive potential. Economic anxieties also loom, particularly the fear of an AI‑centric bubble. Valient draws a parallel with the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t vanish, only the over‑hyped companies did.
He asserts that Immersive’s focus is on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates that vision. Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the team remains pragmatic. Funding details are scarce. Immersive has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee warns against excessive capital, noting it can breed complacency.
The company deliberately remains a lean operation—three founders plus a handful of helpers—believing that a small, focused team can make smarter decisions than a massive, over‑funded effort. Balancing scale and speed is a delicate act. De Jong explains that a complex engine cannot be built by throwing a million engineers at it; it requires a tight, iterative team that can make thoughtful design choices. At the same time, there is a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry, and Immersive aims to hit that sweet spot without over‑extending.
Currently, Immersive is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The timeline has already outpaced their original expectations—what they thought would take until year‑end is already arriving in half the time. Business model discussions are still early.
While Brussee admires Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" revenue share, he says it’s premature to make concrete statements. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more artistic risk‑taking and innovation. "We love games and want to see more daring, expressive experiences. If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing," Brussee concluded.