Unity and Unreal have long held sway over the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of all Steam releases in 2025. While Godot has gained traction recently and some major studios cling to proprietary tools—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market remains heavily dominated by the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immersive (Immens) with the conviction that there is still space for a fresh engine and, more importantly, for meaningful improvement. The trio’s résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is now ripe for a new engine, one that simply did not exist a few years ago. He believes AI‑assisted programming can revive the ability to build from the ground up, offering “full functionality fast” under guided, controllable conditions. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, stresses that their use of AI differs from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑content” narrative that dominates many discussions today.
Instead, AI is employed to make the engine itself highly extensible. "AI can reason about large codebases and data sets," he explains. "If we design the architecture with that in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle engine—without being limited to superficial scripting." The motivation behind this AI‑centric approach is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee describes the environment as "rough," noting that production costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for studios to turn a profit.
He asks whether new workflows can break this cycle, allowing creators to produce high‑quality titles with smaller budgets, fewer staff, and shorter timelines, thereby reducing financial risk. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become both standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a solid foundation, he argues that the industry now needs innovation rather than further standardization.
He critiques the "monolithic" nature of existing engines, which force developers to conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. With AI, Immens aims to deliver an engine that adapts to the user’s needs, offering interchangeable components, appendable modules, and the ability to craft personalized tools that match a developer’s workflow and shortcuts.
Valient acknowledges AI’s power but also its volatility. "If you’re not vigilant, it can go off the rails quickly," he warns.
To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep users in the driver’s seat: developers can see exactly what the engine is doing, trace its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes. This transparency enables rapid prototyping—imagine sketching out five distinct characters over a coffee break rather than spending weeks on the task.
Such workflows, once prohibitively expensive, become feasible and repeatable thanks to AI‑enhanced tooling. Flexibility is a core design principle. De Jong insists that Immens does not impose a single workflow; instead, it provides a framework that lets teams decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The architecture is deliberately open, supporting open standards and text‑based file formats that any tool can read.
"When files are plain text, any software—including AI—can parse and manipulate them," Brussee notes. This openness facilitates seamless integration with industry staples like Blender, Maya, or generative‑art pipelines, fostering smarter interfaces across the development stack.
The broader conversation around AI in games is polarized. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype a future where a single prompt could generate a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling backlash. Immens’s founders temper such expectations, viewing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magical button.
Valient believes AI will elevate the entire ecosystem, making every creator better, even if the term currently carries negative connotations due to its disruptive scale. Economic anxieties also surface, with concerns that AI‑focused ventures are riding a speculative bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many startups vanished, the underlying internet persisted and thrived. He argues that Immens’s focus is on building a genuinely good engine; AI simply accelerates development and expands creative horizons.
Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the team is committed to delivering lasting value. Funding details remain vague. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital sought as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑funding, suggesting that excess cash can breed complacency, whereas a lean budget encourages scrappiness and disciplined progress. Currently, the company consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers.
They deliberately keep the team small to maintain agility while tackling the complex task of engine development. De Jong explains the balancing act: a massive workforce does not guarantee success; instead, a focused group must iterate, make critical decisions, and seize the narrow window of opportunity presented by rapid AI advancements. Immens is racing toward 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—what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving roughly twice as fast.
While the ultimate business model is still under discussion, Brussee appreciates Epic Games’ "we succeed when you succeed" licensing philosophy but admits it is too early for concrete commitments. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will catalyze a new wave of creativity and risk‑taking in games. "We love games and want to see more complex artistic expressions," Brussee says.
"If our technology can enable developers to push boundaries and innovate, that would be amazing."