Unity and Unreal have long been the go‑to tools for game creators, together accounting for roughly 70 % of all titles launched on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has enjoyed a noticeable surge in popularity over the past few years, most large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example.
In practice, this duopoly has left the engine market feeling almost closed off. Enter Immersive, a fledgling startup founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh contender. Their résumés read like a hall of fame: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, Apple, and other heavyweight studios.
The trio argues that the current landscape is ripe for innovation and that a new engine, built with modern AI assistance, can address the shortcomings of the existing monoliths. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that “the opportunity now” to build a next‑generation engine simply didn’t exist a couple of years ago. He highlighted how AI‑augmented programming can let developers start from scratch again, offering “full functionality fast” while still retaining granular control.
Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ isn’t about generating content from a single prompt. Instead, it’s woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “If we design the code with AI in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without wrestling with opaque scripting layers,” he said.
The motivation behind this AI‑first engine stems from the harsh reality of today’s game market. Brussee described the environment as “rough,” noting that development costs keep climbing and the risk of failure is higher than ever. He asked whether the industry could find “new ways of working” that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines, thereby protecting studios from financial ruin.
De Jong echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While standardisation provides a stable foundation, he argued that the industry now needs genuine innovation rather than more of the same. One of the key criticisms De Jong has of current engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, limiting creativity.
With AI, Immersive envisions an engine that adapts to the user instead of forcing users to adapt to it. “It needs to be very flexible,” he said. “You can swap components, append new ones, or modify existing tools to match exactly what your project demands—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and workflow.” This level of customization, he believes, will empower teams to build tools that reflect their unique skill sets and artistic visions. Valient is candid about AI’s double‑edged sword.
While the technology is “really powerful,” it can “go off the rails quickly if you don’t pay attention.” To mitigate this, Immersive is designing the engine so that users retain full visibility into what the AI is doing, preserving repeatability and auditability. He illustrated the potential with a simple example: creating five characters with a specific trait used to require weeks of planning; now, with AI‑driven tools, a developer could prototype the concept over a coffee break, reuse the tool multiple times, and discard it when finished—dramatically cutting costs. Flexibility is baked into the engine’s core. De Jong stressed that Immersive does not impose a single workflow; instead, the framework and architecture are deliberately open, allowing developers to decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
The engine also embraces open standards, making it easy to exchange data with popular tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. Brussee explained that when files are stored in text‑based formats, any program can read and manipulate them, enabling smoother interoperability. He lamented that many existing engines act as “weird outliers” that refuse to speak the same language as the broader ecosystem, a problem Immersive hopes to solve. The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype “click‑to‑game” solutions that could, with a single prompt, generate a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immersive’s team acknowledges that such a vision might one day be feasible, but they see AI primarily as a tool that enhances human creators rather than replaces them. Valient argued that AI will make “big games and everything in between” better because it elevates the capabilities of every developer.
De Jong added that, like any technology, AI can be misused, but the industry has a responsibility to apply it responsibly. Economic concerns also swirl around the AI boom. Critics warn of a bubble with inflated valuations and unsustainable hype.
Valient responded by drawing a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the underlying technology endured. Immersive’s goal is simply to build a solid engine; AI is the accelerator that lets them dream bigger and iterate faster.
Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the founders are focused on delivering a product that stands on its own merits. Funding for Immersive is still in its early stages. The company has secured “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warned that excess capital can breed complacency, emphasizing the need to stay scrappy. The team remains tiny—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explained that building an engine is a complex endeavour that cannot be rushed by throwing a million engineers at it; a lean, focused group can make deliberate decisions and iterate more efficiently. At the same time, they must balance this with the need to capture the current window of opportunity created by AI’s rise.
Immersive is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aims to release this demo within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced their original projection of completing it by year‑end. Brussee noted that they are moving “two times faster than we anticipated,” making it difficult to set firm deadlines. The business model is still under discussion.
While Immersive admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach, they consider it premature to commit to any specific strategy. Ultimately, Brussee hopes the engine will enable creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking, artistic expression, and innovation.
“We all love games,” he said. “We want to see more creativity and more daring projects built on this kind of technology. That would be amazing.”