Unity and Unreal have long held sway over game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed notable growth recently and some studios such as Capcom continue to rely on proprietary solutions like the RE Engine, the market has largely been monopolized by the two giants. Enter Immersive, a startup founded by three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still space for a fresh engine that improves upon the status quo.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they aim to challenge the entrenched players.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new platform that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. “With AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again,” he explained. “Guided by intelligent tools, we can achieve full‑featured functionality much faster than before.” Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI component is not about generating assets through vague prompts. Instead, it focuses on making the engine itself highly extensible.
“AI excels at reasoning over large codebases and data sets,” he said. “If we design the architecture with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer.” This approach, he added, lets creators harness AI to accelerate extensions rather than replace the development process. The motivation behind this AI‑powered engine stems from what Brussee describes as a “rough” market climate.
Game production costs are spiralling, making it increasingly difficult for studios to turn a profit. “We need new workflows that cut expenses and allow smaller teams to ship faster, without risking their livelihoods,” he warned.
The goal is to break the cycle of ever‑larger budgets and longer timelines that currently dominate the industry. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry now faces a slew of challenges, and simply repeating old methods won’t solve them,” he asserted.
“We need fresh ideas, not just more of the same.” One of the pain points De Jong highlights is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers often must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines.
By contrast, Immersive envisions an engine that flexibly adapts to the user’s workflow. “You should be able to swap components, add new tools, and tailor the interface to your exact needs,” he explained.
“If I need a shortcut or a UI layout that matches my background, I can build it myself.” Valient also acknowledges AI’s pitfalls. While the technology is powerful, it can “go off the rails” if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immersive is building transparency into the system: users can see what the engine is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes.
This level of control, he says, lets creators craft bespoke tools for specific problems—such as generating five characters with a particular trait—in minutes rather than weeks. Flexibility is baked into the engine’s core philosophy. De Jong stresses that Immersive does not impose a single workflow or dictate how much AI should be used.
“The framework is modular; you decide how to integrate AI and where it adds value,” he said. “The key is making sure the AI understands the context correctly.” Interoperability is another priority. By leveraging open, text‑based standards, Immersive aims to make its engine play nicely with other industry tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. “When files are human‑readable, any program can parse them,” Brussee noted.
“This openness allows smarter interfaces across the entire toolchain, something proprietary engines have struggled with.” The broader AI debate in game development is heated. Some commentators on platforms like LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” experiences, suggesting that a simple prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immersive’s team sees such visions as far‑off fantasies, positioning AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement. “AI will make everyone better, not eliminate the creative process,” Valient remarked.
“It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused, but it also has the potential to elevate the medium.” Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with critics warning of a speculative bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: while many companies vanished, the underlying internet endured and flourished. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and expands our imagination,” he said.
“Whether the market is in a bubble is unknown, but history shows that valuable technology survives.” Funding remains modest. Immersive has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing them as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design.
“Building an engine is complex; you can’t throw a million developers at it and expect miracles,” De Jong explained. “A focused, small team makes deliberate decisions and can move quickly enough to capture the current window of opportunity.” Currently, Immersive is developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases an AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The timeline has already outpaced their original expectations: what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. Brussee admits that predicting exact schedules is difficult when AI accelerates progress.
Regarding the business model, the founders admire Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach but admit it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, Brussee hopes Immersive will enable creators to push the boundaries of the medium. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions,” he said.
“If our technology helps developers take bigger creative risks, that would be amazing.”