For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces shaping the video‑game development landscape, accounting for roughly 70 % of the titles launched on Steam in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have enjoyed notable growth, the market remains largely monopolised by these two powerhouses, with only a handful of large studios still preferring proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine. In this context, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have decided to challenge the status quo by launching Immersive (Immens), an AI‑enhanced game engine aimed at breaking the cycle of ever‑increasing costs and development timelines.
The founders bring a résumé that reads like a who’s‑who of modern game‑making. Brussee’s background includes work at Epic Games, the creator of Unreal, while De Jong has contributed to titles at Guerrilla Games and Boss Key, and Valient has spent time at Apple.
Their combined experience gives them a unique perspective on the limitations of existing tools and the opportunities that new technology can unlock. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a fresh engine: “A few years ago the idea of an AI‑assisted engine didn’t really exist.
Now, with AI‑supported programming, we can start building from the ground up again while still keeping tight control over the process.” He emphasised that the goal is not to replace developers with a black‑box prompt system, but to give teams the ability to rapidly prototype and iterate with a solid, extensible foundation. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified what the company means by AI.
“We’re not talking about a magic wand that writes code for you on command,” he said. “Our AI is designed to understand the engine’s architecture so that small teams or even solo developers can extend it without being limited to simple scripting. If a creator wants a custom particle system or a unique physics behaviour, they can add it directly into the codebase, and the AI assists by handling repetitive boilerplate, suggesting optimisations, and ensuring consistency.” This approach, he argued, turns AI into a productivity partner rather than a replacement for human creativity.
The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the harsh economic realities of modern game development. Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” noting that production budgets are ballooning and the risk of failure is higher than ever.
“We need new ways of working that lower costs and let smaller teams deliver high‑quality experiences faster,” he asserted. De Jong echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine market has become overly standardised and consolidated.
While a stable foundation is valuable, he believes the industry now requires genuine innovation, not just incremental improvements. One of the pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which can stifle creativity. De Jong envisions an engine that adapts to the user rather than forcing users to adapt to it.
“Flexibility is key,” he explained. “You should be able to swap components, append new modules, and build tools that match your personal workflow—down to the exact shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you need for a particular project.” Valient acknowledged that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it can accelerate development dramatically, it can also produce unexpected results 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 the AI is doing, you can trace its actions, and you can reproduce results reliably,” he said. This level of oversight is intended to keep the creative process trustworthy and repeatable.
Immens also prioritises openness. By relying on text‑based, open‑standard file formats, the engine can communicate seamlessly with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, and other generative‑AI pipelines.
Brussee highlighted that “any system that can read plain text can interoperate,” which eliminates many of the integration headaches that arise when engines lock developers into proprietary ecosystems. The broader conversation around AI in game development is often polarised. Some critics warn of a future where a single prompt could generate a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, reducing the craft to a button press. The Immens team acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a tool, not a replacement.
Valient believes that AI will make “big games and everything in between better because it elevates every creator’s capabilities,” while also stressing the responsibility to use the technology ethically. Economic anxieties accompany the technical debate. Many worry that AI‑centric startups are part of a speculative bubble, reminiscent of the dot‑com era.
Valient argues that, like the internet, AI is not going away; the market will simply sort out which products deliver genuine value. Immens aims to be one of those lasting solutions by focusing on building a solid engine first, with AI serving to accelerate development and inspire bigger dreams. Funding for Immens remains modest at this stage. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency.
The team remains deliberately lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—believing that a small, focused group can make better decisions and move faster than a bloated organisation. Currently, Immens is working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team originally projected a year‑long development timeline, but they are already two‑times ahead of schedule, aiming to release the demo within the month.
This rapid progress underscores the potential speed gains that AI integration can provide. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, the founders hope that Immens will empower developers to push the artistic and technical boundaries of games, fostering more creativity, risk‑taking, and innovation across the industry.
"We love games and want to see more daring, expressive experiences," Brussee concluded. "If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing."