For years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the game‑development world, together powering roughly 70% of the titles that landed on Steam in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have made noticeable strides, most major studios still lean on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving the market largely dominated by the two giants.
Enter Immers, a fledgling company founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑tech powerhouses, with 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 addresses the shortcomings of today’s offerings and leverages the latest advances in artificial intelligence.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform. “A few years ago the idea of an AI‑enhanced engine didn’t exist. Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again while keeping tight control over the process,” he said.
The goal is to deliver a fully functional engine quickly, without the long, cumbersome pipelines that have become the norm. Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarified that their use of AI is not about the flashy “prompt‑to‑asset” gimmick that dominates headlines.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “The AI can reason about large codebases and data sets,” he noted. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without wrestling with opaque scripting layers.” In practice, this means developers can tell the engine, “I want a specific effect,” and the AI helps generate the necessary code or assets, dramatically shortening iteration cycles. The motivation behind Immers is rooted in the current economic climate of game development, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Production budgets are inflating, and the risk of failure is mounting.
“We need new ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he argued. The team hopes their AI‑first engine will enable studios to achieve more with less, protecting livelihoods and encouraging creative risk‑taking. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that stability provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and simply repeating the old formula won’t cut it,” he said.
“We need a different approach—flexibility over monolith.” Current engines often force developers into rigid workflows and proprietary file formats. By contrast, Immers aims to be a modular platform where users can swap, extend, or replace components as needed, crafting tools that match their personal workflows and project requirements. Flexibility is a recurring theme. De Jong envisions a system where a developer can build a custom interface, assign shortcuts, and integrate personal shortcuts that reflect their background and team dynamics.
This level of personalization, he argues, is impossible with the one‑size‑fits‑all design of Unity or Unreal. Valient also warns that AI, while powerful, can “go off the rails” if left unchecked.
Immers therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its history, and ensure repeatable results. This auditability is crucial when the engine is used to generate content on the fly—imagine creating five distinct characters with a specific trait in minutes rather than weeks. The AI can produce a prototype, the developer refines it, and the tool can be discarded after use, saving both time and money.
The architecture of Immers is deliberately open. De Jong stresses that the engine will not impose a single workflow; instead, it will allow teams to decide how much AI they want to incorporate and where. By adopting open, text‑based standards, the engine can interoperate with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines. “If the files are readable text, any software can parse them,” Brussee explained.
This openness contrasts with many existing engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering seamless integration. There is a vocal backlash against AI in game creation, with some commentators predicting a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immers’ founders acknowledge the hype but view AI as a tool, not a magic button. Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry: “Big games and indie titles alike will benefit because AI makes everyone better.” He cautions that, like any technology, AI can be misused, but the responsibility lies with creators to apply it ethically.
Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with fears of a bubble and inflated valuations. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet survived and flourished. “AI isn’t going away,” he said.
“Our focus is on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and lets us dream bigger.” Funding remains modest. Immers has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing them as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. The company deliberately stays lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—believing that a small, focused team can make critical decisions faster than a bloated organization. Currently, Immers is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI editing workflow.
The team aimed for an end‑of‑year release when they started in April, but they are already moving twice as fast as anticipated. While a definitive business model is still forming, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy and hints that a similar approach may emerge. Ultimately, the founders hope Immers will rekindle creativity and risk‑taking in games.
“We love games as an art form and want to see more daring, expressive experiences,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help push the industry forward, that would be amazing.”