For many years Unity and Unreal have ruled the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed a surge in popularity and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the duopoly of Unity and Unreal still dominates the market. Enter Immers, the brainchild of three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a Who’s Who of game‑tech—experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they argue that there is still room for a fresh engine, and that the next generation of tools should be built with artificial intelligence at its core. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform because "the possibilities that AI‑assisted programming opens up didn’t exist a couple of years ago." He believes that with the right guidance developers can start from a clean slate and assemble fully‑functional systems much more quickly than before.
Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they envision is not the kind of generative‑prompt wizardry that dominates headlines. "We’re not trying to conjure entire games with a single sentence," he says. "Our AI is baked into the engine’s architecture so it can reason about the codebase and data, making the engine highly extensible.
Small teams or solo creators will be able to plug in custom features—like a bespoke particle system—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers. The AI simply accelerates the extension process." The motivation behind this AI‑centric engine stems from the current economic climate of game development. Brussee describes the market as "rough" and warns that production costs keep climbing, squeezing smaller studios out of the equation. "We need new ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and speed up delivery," he asserts.
"Otherwise developers risk their livelihoods and studios disappear." De Jong, Immers’ chief product officer, points out that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that standardisation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. "The industry faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating old methods won’t solve them," he says.
"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. "You should be able to swap components, append new modules, or rewrite tools to match exactly how you work," he explains.
"Imagine a designer who can craft a custom UI with shortcuts and features tailored to their team’s pipeline, all without fighting the engine’s constraints." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it can dramatically boost productivity, it can also veer off course if left unchecked.
"We’re designing Immers so that users remain in full control of what the AI does," he says. "You can trace every decision, reproduce it, and build disposable tools for specific tasks—like generating five characters with a particular trait in minutes instead of weeks. This level of control turns AI from a black box into a reliable assistant." Flexibility is baked into Immers’ core philosophy. De Jong stresses that the platform does not dictate a specific workflow or amount of AI usage.
"It’s up to you how much AI you want to incorporate and where," he notes. "Our architecture simply ensures the AI understands the context correctly, giving creators the freedom to decide their own process." Interoperability is another pillar of the project. By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immers can communicate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑art system.
"When files are plain text, any program can read and manipulate them," Brussee says. "That means the engine can plug into existing pipelines without the awkward incompatibilities that many proprietary engines still suffer from." The broader conversation about AI in game development is heated. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of "click‑to‑game" engines that could produce Grand‑Theft‑Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt.
Immers’ team tempers those expectations, insisting that AI should be viewed as a powerful tool rather than a magical shortcut. Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry: "Big games and indie titles alike will benefit because AI makes everyone better.
The current backlash stems from the disruption AI brings at an unprecedented scale." De Jong adds a note of responsibility: "We must use AI responsibly. Every technology can be misused, but it’s up to us to ensure it serves creators, not replaces them." Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many questioning whether the hype is a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: "The internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the underlying technology survived and thrived. We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our vision. Whether it’s a bubble or not, only time will tell." Funding remains modest.
Immers has secured its first commitments but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee warns against over‑funding: "Too much cash can make a startup lazy. Scrappiness drives innovation." The company remains a lean operation—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This intentional size allows rapid decision‑making while avoiding the pitfalls of a massive, unwieldy team.
De Jong explains the trade‑off: "Building an engine is complex; you can’t throw a million developers at it and expect miracles. You need a focused core that iterates thoughtfully, especially during this narrow window of opportunity created by AI advancements." Immers is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month.
The timeline has already outpaced their original estimate—what they thought would take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s "we succeed when you succeed" approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, he hopes Immers will enable creators to push the boundaries of the medium.
"We love games and the complex artistic expression they embody," he says. "We want to see more creativity, more risk‑taking, and more innovation built on technology like ours. If we can help bring that future to life, that would be amazing."