For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has enjoyed notable growth, most large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, leaving Unity and Unreal with a near‑monopoly on the market.
Enter Immers, a new venture founded by three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh engine and, more importantly, for meaningful improvement. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game development: experience at Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, Apple, and other high‑profile studios. The trio is now setting out to challenge the status quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the opportunity didn’t exist a couple of years ago.” He argues that AI‑assisted programming now lets developers start from a clean slate while still maintaining tight guidance and control, enabling rapid delivery of fully functional features.
Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the typical “prompt‑to‑output” model that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “AI can reason about massive amounts of data and source code,” he says.
“If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being limited to a few scripting hooks.” This philosophy aims to let creators extend the engine quickly, using AI as a productivity accelerator rather than a magic wand. The motivation behind Immers’ AI‑powered engine is rooted in the current economic climate of the games industry, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Development costs continue to climb, making it increasingly difficult for small studios to survive. “We need new ways of working that cut costs, shrink team sizes, and shorten timelines,” he notes. The goal is to lower the financial risk for creators, allowing them to pursue ambitious projects without jeopardizing their livelihoods.
De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry faces many challenges, and simply repeating past practices isn’t enough,” he argues. “We need fresh ideas, not just more of the same.” He criticizes the “monolithic approach” of existing engines, where developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
With AI, Immers intends to deliver a platform that molds itself to the user’s needs, offering interchangeable components, appendable modules, and the ability to craft bespoke tools tailored to specific projects. Valient acknowledges that AI, while powerful, can quickly go off‑track if left unchecked. Immers therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users will always know what the engine is doing, see its decision history, and be able to reproduce results.
This level of oversight is crucial for creative pipelines where a designer might need to generate five characters with a particular trait in minutes—a task that previously could take weeks. By turning such processes into repeatable, disposable tools, developers can dramatically reduce costs and iterate faster.
Flexibility is a core tenet of Immers’ design. De Jong stresses that the engine does not enforce a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The architecture is deliberately open, supporting open standards and text‑based file formats that can be read by any tool.
“If you’re using Blender, Maya, or any generative system, you can plug it in because everything speaks the same language,” Brussee explains. This openness contrasts with many current engines, which often act as isolated ecosystems. The broader conversation around AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure Grand Theft Auto‑level experiences from a single prompt. Immers’ team tempers those expectations, viewing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human creativity. Valient notes that AI is reshaping the industry, but it remains a tool that can be wielded responsibly or misused, depending on the creator’s intent.
Economic anxieties also surface, with critics warning of an AI bubble inflated by lofty valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, asserting that while many AI startups may fade, the underlying technology will endure. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply makes us faster and lets us dream bigger,” he says.
Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but Immers is betting on the lasting value of a well‑engineered platform. Funding details are still under wraps.
Immers has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against overfunding, noting that excessive capital can breed complacency. The company deliberately remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—believing that a small, focused team can make better architectural decisions than a massive, unwieldy group.
Currently, Immers is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team expected this to take until year‑end, but they are already delivering the demo ahead of schedule, effectively doubling their projected speed.
Timeline estimates remain fluid, given the rapid pace of development. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific revenue strategy. Ultimately, the founders hope Immers will empower creators to push the artistic boundaries of games, encouraging risk‑taking and innovation.
“We love games and want to see more daring, creative experiences,” Brussee concludes. “If our technology can help bring those visions to life, that would be amazing."