For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed notable growth recently and some large studios still rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been monopolised by the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immersive (Immens), a new AI‑enhanced engine that they believe can carve out a niche and push the status quo forward.
The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑making powerhouses. Brussee spent time at Epic Games, the creator of Unreal, while De Jong contributed to Guerrilla Games and other high‑profile studios, and Valient brings experience from Apple and several AAA projects. Their collective background gives them credibility to challenge the entrenched players. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a fresh engine.
“A few years ago the idea of building a new, competitive engine seemed impossible,” he said. “Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from scratch again and bring full‑featured tools to market much faster.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not about generating content via prompts, but about constructing an engine architecture that is highly extensible. “AI can reason over large codebases and data sets,” he noted. “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 system—without being constrained to a limited scripting layer.” This extensibility, he argued, is the core of Immens’s value proposition: AI becomes a catalyst for rapid extension rather than a replacement for human creativity.
The motivation behind Immens is also rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the market as “rough,” emphasizing that production costs continue to climb, making it increasingly difficult for studios to turn a profit. “We need new ways of working that reduce costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he said. “If we can break that expensive cycle, developers won’t have to risk their livelihoods on a single hit.” De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a stable foundation, he believes the industry now requires genuine innovation. “Continuing to do things the same way isn’t enough,” he asserted. “We need a different approach—one that embraces flexibility rather than a monolithic, one‑size‑fits‑all solution.” Current engines often force developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs, allowing interchangeable components, custom tools, and personalized interfaces. “Imagine being able to craft a toolset that mirrors your own workflow, with the exact shortcuts and UI you prefer,” he said. “That level of adaptability is what we aim to deliver.” Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can behave unpredictably if left unchecked. Immens is being built with transparency in mind: users will have full visibility into the engine’s actions, histories, and decision‑making processes.
This control ensures repeatability and allows developers to create throw‑away tools for specific tasks—such as generating five uniquely‑traited characters in minutes—without the overhead that traditionally required weeks of manual work. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s architecture. The team refuses to impose a single workflow, instead offering a framework that lets developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. “You choose the degree of AI assistance,” De Jong explained.
“Our job is to make sure the AI understands the context correctly, but the creative direction remains in the developer’s hands.” Interoperability is another pillar of the project. By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens can seamlessly exchange data with tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines. “When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them,” Brussee said.
“This openness lets us plug into existing ecosystems without the friction that proprietary engines often create.” The broader conversation about AI in games is polarized. Some pundits on platforms like LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt.
Immens’s founders acknowledge the hype but view AI primarily as an empowering tool rather than a magic wand. “AI will make everyone better, not replace the craft,” Valient remarked. “It’s disruptive, yes, but that disruption can lead to higher quality, more ambitious projects.” Economic concerns also linger, with many questioning whether AI‑focused game tech is a bubble.
Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear, but many companies fell away, leaving only the strongest survivors. “We’re building a solid engine first; AI just accelerates our development and expands our imagination,” he said. “Whether the market is a bubble is unknown, but we’re focused on delivering value regardless.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured initial commitments but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency.
“Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “Too much money can make you lazy.” The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explained the balance between needing enough talent to build a complex engine and avoiding the pitfalls of a massive, unwieldy team.
“We have a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry,” he said. “We must hit that sweet spot of funding and manpower to capitalize on it without overextending.” Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The team’s timeline has already outpaced their original expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now moving at double speed.
Brussee admitted that predicting exact milestones is challenging given the rapid progress. Regarding the business model, Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” approach but acknowledges that it’s too early to define a concrete revenue strategy.
The ultimate goal, according to Brussee, is to enable creators to push the medium forward. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expression,” he concluded. “If our technology can help developers take bigger creative risks, that would be amazing."