For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been locked into the duopoly of Unity and Unreal. Enter Immersive’s founders – Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient – three industry veterans who believe there is still space for a fresh engine and, more importantly, for meaningful improvement.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they aim to challenge the status quo.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. “With AI‑assisted programming you can start building from scratch again,” he explained. “Guided by intelligent tools, you can deliver full‑featured functionality quickly.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the flashy “prompt‑to‑asset” gimmick that dominates headlines. Instead, their AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
“AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he said. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without wrestling with opaque scripting layers.” In short, the AI is a productivity accelerator, not a replacement for human creativity. The motivation behind Immens’s AI‑centric approach stems from the bleak financial reality of modern game development. Brussee describes the current climate as “rough.” Development costs keep climbing, making it harder for small studios to survive.
“We need new ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and speed up delivery,” he argued. “Otherwise you risk everything – your studio, your livelihood.” De Jong, the company’s chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and simply repeating old methods isn’t enough,” he said.
“We need breakthrough ideas, not more of the same.” One of the pain points De Jong highlights is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers are forced to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. Immens aims to flip that script by delivering a flexible platform that molds itself to the developer’s workflow. “You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and tailor the interface to your exact needs,” he explained.
“Imagine a toolset that reflects your personal shortcuts, features, and UI preferences – that’s the freedom we’re building.” Valient also warns that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. “We’re building Immens so that users stay in control,” he said. “You can see exactly what the engine is doing, trace its history, and ensure repeatable results.” This transparency allows developers to craft one‑off utilities – for instance, a script that generates five characters with specific traits in minutes – and then discard them, a process that would previously have taken weeks and a sizable budget.
Flexibility is baked into Immens’s core. De Jong stresses that the engine does not impose a single workflow or a mandatory level of AI integration. “It’s up to you how much AI you want to use and where you apply it,” he noted. “Our architecture simply provides the scaffolding so you can decide the best path for your project.” Interoperability is another cornerstone.
By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immens ensures that files can be read and manipulated by a variety of tools. “If a file is plain text, any program can parse it,” Brussee said.
“That means Blender, Maya, generative‑AI tools, or our own utilities can all talk to each other seamlessly. Many engines remain closed off, but we want to embrace open standards to create smarter, more connected pipelines.” The broader AI debate in game development is heated. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” experiences, suggesting that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world.
Immens’s team acknowledges the hype but treats AI as a tool rather than a magic wand. “AI will make everyone better, not replace the craft,” Valient asserted. “It has a negative stigma now because it’s disrupting at an unprecedented scale, but responsible use can unlock huge creative potential.” Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with many fearing a bubble of over‑valued startups.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear, only the flimsy business models did. “We’re focused on building a solid engine.
AI makes us faster and lets us dream bigger, but whether the market is a bubble is unknown. History shows that good technology survives.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency.
“Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “Otherwise you lose the edge that fuels innovation.” The company remains lean – just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This deliberate size balances the complexity of building an engine with the need to move quickly during a window of opportunity created by AI’s rise. “You can’t throw a million people at an engine and expect it to work,” De Jong explained.
“A small, focused team can make decisive choices and iterate faster.” Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release this month. The timeline has already outpaced their original estimate: what they thought would take until year‑end is now arriving in weeks. “We’re moving twice as fast as we predicted,” Brussee said, underscoring the engine’s rapid development cycle.
Business‑model discussions are still early. While Brussee appreciates Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy, he admits it’s too soon to lock in a revenue strategy. The ultimate goal, however, is clear: to empower creators to push the medium forward. “We love games, we love daring artistic expression, and we want to see more risk‑taking,” Brussee concluded.
“If our technology can enable that, it would be amazing."