For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, together powering roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have made noticeable strides, most large publishers still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example.
In short, the engine market has long seemed locked into a duopoly. Enter Immers, 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, spanning Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine, and more importantly, room for a different approach. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is now right for a novel platform that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. “With AI‑assisted programming, you can start building from a clean slate again,” he said. “Guided by intelligent tools, you can deliver full‑featured functionality much faster than before.” Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the typical “prompt‑to‑code” gimmick that dominates headlines.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “If we design the codebase with AI in mind, even a solo developer can plug in a custom particle system or a bespoke rendering pipeline without wrestling with opaque scripting layers,” he explained.
The goal is to let creators extend the engine quickly, using AI as a catalyst rather than a crutch. The motivation behind this AI‑centric engine stems from the current state of the games market, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Development budgets are ballooning, and the risk of failure is climbing.
“We need new ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and speed up delivery,” he asserted. “Otherwise studios keep betting their livelihoods on ever larger projects.” De Jong, the chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, noting that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has given developers a solid foundation, it has also stifled innovation.
“The industry faces a host of challenges, and simply repeating the same processes won’t solve them,” he said. “We need a fresh wave of innovation, not more of the same.” One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which limits creativity. With AI, however, Immers aims to deliver an engine that molds itself to the developer’s workflow.
“Flexibility is key,” he noted. “You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and redesign interfaces to match exactly what your project demands.” Valient is quick to acknowledge AI’s limits. While the technology is “really powerful,” it can also veer off course if left unchecked.
To counter this, Immers is building transparency into the engine: users can see what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure reproducibility. “You remain in control,” he said. “If you need to generate five characters with a specific trait, you can do it in minutes instead of weeks, then discard the temporary tool once the job is done.” Flexibility extends beyond workflow.
Immers is deliberately avoiding a prescribed development methodology. “We provide the framework; you decide how much AI to employ and where,” De Jong explained. “The architecture is open enough that you can integrate as much—or as little—AI as you feel comfortable with.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of the platform.
By embracing open, text‑based standards, Immers ensures that assets from tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative systems can be read and manipulated directly by the engine. “When files are plain text, any program can parse them,” Brussee said.
“That means the AI can ingest and act on those assets without a proprietary bridge, fostering smoother pipelines across the industry.” The broader conversation about AI in game development is often polarized. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” experiences, suggesting that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immers’ team tempers such hype, positioning AI as an augmenting tool rather than a magical shortcut.
“AI will make every developer better, not replace them,” Valient asserted. “It’s a tool that can be misused, but it also has the potential to unlock unprecedented creativity.” Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many fearing a bubble of over‑valued startups.
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 endured. “We’re focused on building a solid engine first,” he said. “AI helps us iterate faster and think bigger, but the core product must stand on its own merits.” Funding for Immers remains modest.
The founders have secured “first commitments,” but have not disclosed exact figures, only describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed.
The company remains lean—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.
“Building an engine is complex; you can’t throw a million engineers at it and expect miracles,” De Jong said. “You need a focused group that can iterate, learn, and pivot within a narrow window of opportunity created by AI’s rise.” Immers is currently targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team aims to release this demo within the month, already having accelerated their timeline dramatically—what was projected to take until year‑end is now expected in half that time.
Business‑model discussions are still in early stages. While Immers appreciates Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, they admit it’s premature to commit to any specific revenue structure. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward.
“We love games as an art form and want to see more risk‑taking, more creativity,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help developers build bolder experiences, that would be amazing.”