For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to platforms for game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been a duopoly dominated by the two giants. Enter Immersive (Immens), a fledgling venture founded by three seasoned veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, featuring stints at Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine that not only competes with the status quo but also addresses its shortcomings. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new platform. “A few years ago the idea of building a modern engine from the ground up seemed impossible,” he said. “Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from scratch again and get functional pieces together much faster, while still retaining tight oversight.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the typical “prompt‑to‑asset” gimmick that dominates headlines.
Instead, their AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “If we design the engine with AI reasoning in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke animation tool without having to rewrite large sections of code,” he explained. “The AI helps you extend the engine quickly, not replace the creative process.” The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the environment as “rough,” noting that production budgets keep inflating while the risk of failure grows.
“We need new ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and shorten timelines,” he said. “If we can make the development pipeline more efficient, studios won’t have to gamble their entire livelihood on a single title.” De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry faces a host of challenges—from rising hardware expectations to talent shortages,” he observed. “Continuing to iterate on the same monolithic engines won’t solve those problems. We need a fundamentally different approach.” One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the monolithic nature of existing engines, which often force developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immens aims to flip that script, offering an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs.
“Flexibility is key,” he said. “You should be able to swap modules, append new features, or build entirely custom tools that match your personal workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you prefer.” Valient acknowledged that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is undeniably powerful, it can also behave unpredictably if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is built with transparency and control at its core.
“When you use the engine, you always know what it’s doing and why,” he asserted. “Every action is logged, reproducible, and can be overridden, so you never lose creative authority.” The team envisions a future where routine tasks—like generating a set of five characters with specific traits—can be completed in minutes rather than weeks. “Imagine sketching an idea over coffee, letting the AI flesh it out, using the result a handful of times, and then discarding the temporary tool,” Valient said. “That level of rapid iteration was prohibitively expensive before.” Immens’s architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow on its users.
De Jong emphasized that developers can decide how much AI assistance they want and where to apply it. “Our framework is modular; you can plug in AI wherever it makes sense, or skip it entirely,” he noted. “The challenge is ensuring the AI understands the context correctly, which is why we’re focusing on open standards and clear data representations.” Open standards are another pillar of Immens’s design philosophy.
By using text‑based, human‑readable file formats, the engine can interoperate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑art pipeline. “If a file is plain text, any AI can read and manipulate it,” Brussee explained. “That openness eliminates the ‘black‑box’ problem many proprietary engines suffer from, allowing developers to create smarter interfaces across the entire toolchain.” The broader industry is divided on AI’s role in game creation.
Some pundits on LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” experiences, suggesting that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immens’s founders temper such expectations, viewing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human creativity. “AI will make everyone better, not take over the craft,” Valient said.
“It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused, but it also has the potential to unlock unprecedented levels of innovation.” Economic concerns also swirl around the AI boom, with many fearing a bubble of over‑valued startups. Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear after the bubble burst; many companies vanished, but the technology endured. We’re focused on building a solid engine first; AI simply accelerates our development and expands what’s possible.” Funding for Immens remains modest.
The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “A lean team forces you to make hard decisions and iterate quickly.” Currently, Immens consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers. They believe a small, focused group can navigate the complex task of building an engine without the overhead of a massive staff.
De Jong explained the balancing act: “You can’t throw a million engineers at an engine and expect it to work. You need a tight core that iterates, learns, and adapts, especially during this window of opportunity created by AI’s rise.” The team is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. Brussee admitted their timeline has already outpaced expectations: “We thought we’d need a year; we’re already moving twice as fast.” As for the business model, Immens remains in exploratory mode.
While they admire Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” revenue share, they have not committed to any specific arrangement yet. Ultimately, Brussee hopes Immens will enable creators to push the medium forward. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic experiences,” he said. “If our technology can lower barriers and spark risk‑taking, that would be amazing.”