For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have gained traction and some studios rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immersive (Immens) with the belief that there is still space for a fresh engine and, more importantly, for meaningful improvement. The founders bring an impressive résumé: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, Apple, and other high‑profile studios.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee highlighted a new window of opportunity that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. “With AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again,” he said. “Guided, yet flexible, development lets us deliver full‑featured tools quickly.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the “prompt‑to‑art” gimmick that dominates headlines.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explained. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers can add custom systems—like a bespoke particle engine—without being limited to simple scripting.” This approach aims to let creators harness AI to accelerate extensions rather than replace the creative process.
The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of the games sector, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Development costs continue to climb, making it increasingly difficult for small teams to survive. “We need new, more efficient workflows that lower budgets and shrink team sizes, so studios aren’t gambling their livelihoods on a single hit,” he asserted. De Jong, the chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, noting that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While standardization offers a solid foundation, the industry now demands innovation, not merely more of the same.
A key criticism De Jong has of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. Immens, by contrast, intends to be a pliable platform that molds itself to the user’s needs.
“Flexibility means you can swap components, append new ones, or build entirely custom tools that match your workflow,” he said. He gave a personal example: creating a suite of shortcuts, interfaces, and features tailored to his own background and the specific demands of his project.
Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. While it is “really powerful,” it can also veer off course if left unchecked.
To mitigate this, Immens is built with transparency and control at its core. Users can track the engine’s actions, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable results.
This level of oversight enables developers to generate bespoke tools for niche tasks—such as rapidly prototyping five characters with distinct traits—without months of manual labor. What once required extensive planning can now be imagined over a coffee break and executed in minutes, dramatically reducing cost.
Immens does not enforce a single workflow; the architecture is deliberately open‑ended. “You decide how much AI to incorporate and where,” De Jong emphasized. The engine also embraces open standards, allowing seamless interoperability with common tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines.
Brussee pointed out that text‑based file formats are universally readable, enabling AI to parse and manipulate assets across platforms. This openness counters the “weird outlier” problem where many engines isolate themselves from the broader ecosystem. The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized.
Some pundits on LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” experiences where a prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world. Immens’s team sees AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement. Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry: “Big games and indie titles alike will benefit because AI makes everyone better.” He cautions, however, that the technology’s disruptive scale brings negative connotations, and stresses responsible usage. Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with fears of a bubble inflated by lofty valuations.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet persisted and flourished. “AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming a permanent part of our toolbox,” he said. Immens’s strategy is to focus on building a genuinely good engine, letting AI accelerate development and inspire bigger dreams, regardless of market hype. Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explains the balancing act: a game engine is complex and cannot be built by a massive team overnight, yet timing is crucial to capture the AI‑driven window of opportunity. Currently, Immens is racing toward 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 doubled their original timeline expectations. Brussee remarks that predicting exact milestones is challenging when progress accelerates so quickly. Business model discussions are still in early stages.
While Immens appreciates Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, Brussee says it’s premature to make definitive statements. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push artistic boundaries, take risks, and inject fresh innovation into games. “We love games and want to see more daring, creative experiences,” Brussee concluded.
“If our technology can help make that happen, that would be amazing."