For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles launched on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed a notable surge in popularity lately, most large studios still lean toward proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving Unity and Unreal with a near‑monopoly on the engine market. 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 a better way to build games. 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 now right 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 said. “Guided by strong control mechanisms, you can achieve full functionality quickly.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the “prompt‑and‑receive‑art” style that dominates headlines.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explained. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or any other feature without being limited to simple scripting.” This extensibility, he says, is the core of their AI‑first philosophy.
The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the market as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for small teams to survive.
“We need new, more efficient workflows that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he asserted. “Otherwise studios risk everything on a single title.” De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, he believes the industry now needs genuine innovation rather than incremental improvements.
“We’re at a point where the old ways won’t cut it,” he said. “We need a different approach.” One of De Jong’s criticisms of existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers are forced to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. With AI, Immens aims to flip that model, giving creators an engine that bends to their needs.
“Flexibility is key,” he noted. “You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and craft interfaces that match your personal workflow—down to the exact shortcuts and UI layout you prefer.” Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can quickly go off‑track if left unchecked.
To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep users in the driver’s seat. “You’ll always know what the engine is doing, why it’s doing it, and you can reproduce the results,” he said. “You can also spin up bespoke tools for specific tasks—like generating five characters with a unique trait—in minutes rather than weeks.” This level of control, he believes, will turn formerly expensive processes into cheap, repeatable workflows.
The team stresses that Immens does not impose a single workflow. “It’s up to you how much AI you want to use and where,” De Jong explained. “Our architecture is deliberately open so you can decide the balance that works for you.” To further encourage interoperability, Immens adopts open standards and text‑based file formats.
“When files are human‑readable, any tool—Blender, Maya, or a generative model—can plug in seamlessly,” Brussee said. “That’s a huge step forward compared to the closed ecosystems many engines still enforce.” There is a vocal backlash against AI in game development, with some commentators on LinkedIn claiming that soon anyone could conjure a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience with a single prompt. Immens acknowledges the hype but positions AI as a tool, not a magic button.
“One day we might see ‘click‑to‑game’ engines, but for now AI is a productivity enhancer,” Valient remarked. “It makes developers better, not replaces them.” Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with many fearing a speculative bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear after the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the technology endured.” He believes Immens’s focus on building a solid engine—using AI to accelerate development and inspire bigger dreams—will keep it relevant regardless of market turbulence. Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing them as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “Too much money can make you lazy.” The company remains tiny—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explained the trade‑off: “You can’t throw a million engineers at an engine and expect miracles.
You need a focused, small team to make deliberate decisions, yet you also need enough resources to hit the market window created by AI’s rise.” Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing flow, slated for release later this month. Brussee noted that the team originally expected to reach this milestone by year‑end, but they are already moving twice as fast as anticipated, making timeline predictions difficult. Regarding the business model, Brussee said Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific revenue strategy. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward.
“We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can spark more creativity and risk‑taking, that would be amazing."