For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has gained noticeable traction recently and some large publishers 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 Technologies—better known as Immens—a new venture founded by three seasoned veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, featuring stints 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: “A couple of years ago, the idea of a brand‑new engine didn’t really exist. With AI‑assisted programming we can start from scratch again, under tight guidance, and ship full‑featured functionality much faster.” He emphasizes that the goal isn’t to replace developers with a magic button, but to give them a scaffold that can be extended rapidly.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the kind that merely generates assets from prompts. “Our AI is baked into the engine’s architecture so it can reason about large codebases and data sets,” he says. “If we design the system with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke physics module without rewriting the whole engine. AI becomes a catalyst for extension, not a shortcut that limits creativity.” The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of the games sector.
Brussee describes the environment as “rough”: development costs keep climbing, making it harder for small teams to break even. “We need new ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he argues.
“If we can cut the financial risk, studios can afford to take creative chances rather than playing it safe.” De Jong, the company’s chief product officer, points out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a stable foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating the old playbook won’t solve them,” he notes.
“We need a paradigm shift—flexibility, modularity, and AI‑driven adaptability—to move forward.” One of the pain points with existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers often have to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. De Jong envisions an engine that molds itself to the developer’s workflow.
“You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and tweak interfaces to match exactly what you need,” he explains. “Imagine a designer who can build a custom UI with the shortcuts they prefer, or a programmer who can script a unique AI behavior without fighting the engine’s constraints.” Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it can dramatically speed up tasks, it can also produce unexpected results if left unchecked.
“We’re building Immens so the user remains in full control,” he says. “You can see the entire history of what the AI did, ensuring repeatability and transparency. A tool that once took weeks to generate five characters with specific traits can now be prototyped over a coffee break, used a handful of times, and discarded—saving both time and money.” Flexibility is baked into Immens from day one. The architecture does not force a single workflow on its users.
“You decide how much AI you want, where you want it, and how you integrate it with your pipeline,” De Jong adds. “The key is to make sure the AI understands the context correctly, which is why we’re focusing on open standards and readable file formats.” Open standards are another cornerstone of Immens’ strategy.
By using text‑based file formats, the engine can interoperate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI system. “If the files are human‑readable, any AI can parse and manipulate them,” Brussee explains.
“This creates a smarter interface across the entire development stack, something that proprietary, closed‑format engines have struggled to achieve.” There is a vocal backlash against AI in game creation, often fueled by sensational claims that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’ team concedes that “click‑to‑game” engines might one day exist, but they view AI primarily as an empowering tool rather than a replacement for human creativity.
“AI will make every developer better,” Valient asserts. “It’s disruptive, which is why it feels uncomfortable now, but that disruption is necessary for progress.” Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many warning of 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 technology endured.
We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our vision. Whether it’s a bubble or not, we can’t afford to ignore the momentum.” Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its first commitments but has not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑capitalization: “Too much money can make a startup complacent. Scrappiness drives innovation.” The company remains a lean operation—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explains the balance: “You can’t throw a million engineers at an engine and expect it to work. You need a small, focused team to make deliberate decisions, especially while the market window for AI‑driven tools is opening.” Currently, Immens is developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The team aims to release the demo within the month, already moving twice as fast as their original timeline projected when they started in April. While the exact business model is still being refined, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy and hints that a similar approach could be on the horizon.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will enable creators to push the medium forward. “We love games and want to see more risk‑taking, more artistic expression,” Brussee says. “If our technology can lower barriers and spark innovation, that would be amazing for the whole industry.”