For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and large studios still cling to proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been monopolised by the two giants. Enter Immersive, a venture founded by three industry stalwarts—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still space for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the status quo.
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 entrenched players with a platform built around artificial intelligence.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is now ideal for a new engine, noting that "a couple of years ago the technology simply didn’t exist." He explained that AI‑assisted programming can let developers start from a clean slate while still benefitting from strong guidance and control, allowing full‑featured prototypes to emerge quickly. Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, clarified that their use of AI differs from the hype‑driven "prompt‑to‑content" narrative that dominates many discussions today. "Our AI isn’t about conjuring assets from a single line of text," he said. "It’s about constructing an engine architecture that is inherently extensible.
AI excels at reasoning over large codebases and data sets. By designing the core with that capability in mind, even solo creators or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without being confined to a limited scripting layer." The motivation behind this AI‑centric engine is the increasingly hostile economics of game production. Brussee described the current climate as "rough," emphasizing that development costs continue to climb, making it harder for studios to survive.
"We need new ways of working that lower expenses, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines," he said. "Otherwise you risk everything—your livelihood, your studio, your creative vision." 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, and repeating the same processes won’t solve them," he argued. "What we need now is genuine innovation, not more of the same." One of De Jong’s criticisms of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, which can be a barrier to creativity. With AI, Immersive aims to deliver a system that molds itself to the developer’s needs.
"Flexibility is key," he explained. "You should be able to swap components, add new tools, and tailor the interface to match your personal workflow—down to the exact shortcuts and features your project requires." Valient acknowledged that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While it is "really powerful," it can also go off the rails if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immersive is building transparency into the engine: users will always see what the AI is doing, have access to its decision history, and retain full control over the output.
This repeatability, he says, enables developers to create disposable, highly specific tools—like a script that generates five characters with a unique trait in minutes rather than weeks. Such rapid, low‑cost iterations were previously unattainable. The platform is deliberately agnostic about workflow.
De Jong stressed that Immersive does not force a particular pipeline; instead, it offers a framework that lets teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where. "The architecture is set up so you can choose the level of AI assistance that makes sense for your project, while ensuring the AI understands the context correctly," he noted. Interoperability is another cornerstone of the design.
By embracing open, text‑based standards, Immersive ensures that files can be read and manipulated by any compatible tool. "When your assets are stored in plain text, the AI can parse and act on them directly," Brussee said.
"This opens the door to seamless integration with software like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline, because everything speaks the same language." Despite the enthusiasm, there is a vocal backlash against AI in game development, with some pundits warning that future tools could let anyone conjure a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience with a single prompt. Immersive’s team acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a "tool," not a replacement for human creativity.
Valient believes that AI will make developers better, not obsolete, and that the industry must adopt it responsibly. "Any technology can be misused; it’s our duty to guide it toward positive outcomes," he said. Economic concerns also loom. Critics argue that AI‑focused startups are part of a speculative bubble with inflated valuations.
Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies will fall, the underlying technology persists. "AI isn’t disappearing; the internet didn’t vanish after the bubble burst," he remarked.
"Our goal is to build a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development and expand creative horizons. Whether the market is a bubble is uncertain, but we’re focused on delivering value." Funding remains modest.
Immersive has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee warned against excessive capital, saying it can breed complacency. "Startups need to stay scrappy; too much money can make you lazy," he laughed. The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explained that building an engine is a complex endeavour that doesn’t benefit from a massive headcount. "You need a small, focused team to make thoughtful decisions and iterate carefully," he said. "At the same time, we must seize the window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise, balancing resources without over‑staffing." Immersive is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release this month.
The timeline has already outpaced initial expectations: "We thought we’d need until year‑end, but we’re already twice as fast," Brussee reported. Regarding the business model, Brussee hinted that Immersive admires Epic’s "you succeed when we succeed" licensing approach but admitted it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward. "We love games and want to see more risk‑taking, more artistic expression," Brussee concluded.
"If our technology can help spark that innovation, it would be amazing."