Unity and Unreal have long been the dominant forces in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market remains heavily tilted toward those two giants.
Enter Immersive, a startup 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 believe there is still room for a fresh engine, and more importantly, for a new way of building games. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “There’s an opportunity now to build a new engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.” He points to the rise of AI‑assisted programming as the catalyst that could finally let developers start from a clean slate.
“With AI‑supported coding you can begin building from scratch again, under guided control, and get full functionality much faster,” he said. Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, is quick to clarify that their use of AI is not about generating assets with a single prompt. “The AI in Immersive is about constructing the engine so it’s highly extensible,” he noted. By designing the codebase to be AI‑friendly, smaller teams or even solo creators can add custom features—such as a bespoke particle system—without being confined to a limited scripting layer.
The goal is to let developers harness AI to extend the engine quickly, rather than relying on it to produce finished content automatically. The motivation behind this ambitious project is the current economic climate of the games sector, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Development costs are soaring, and the risk of failure is high. “We need new, more efficient ways of working that lower budgets, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he argued.
The trio sees their engine as a tool to break the costly cycle that threatens many studios’ livelihoods. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation has provided a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces a variety of challenges, and simply repeating the old methods isn’t enough,” he said. “We need innovation, not more standardisation.” One of the pain points he highlights is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers often have to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows.
With AI, Immersive aims to deliver an engine that molds itself to the user’s needs. “It has to be extremely flexible—you should be able to swap components, append new modules, modify existing tools, and even build your own interface tailored to your team’s workflow,” De Jong explained. He envisions a scenario where a developer can craft a custom toolset with precise shortcuts, features, and UI elements that match their project’s unique demands.
Valient acknowledges AI’s power but also its volatility. “If you don’t keep an eye on it, the AI can go off the rails quickly,” he warned. To mitigate this, Immersive is building transparency into the engine: users can see what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes.
This level of control allows creators to generate, for example, five distinct characters with specific traits in the time it once took weeks—perhaps even while sipping coffee and eating breakfast. Such rapid, disposable workflows were previously prohibitively expensive.
Flexibility is baked into Immersive’s architecture. The engine does not enforce a single workflow; instead, it offers a framework that lets developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
“We want the underlying architecture to be adaptable so teams can choose their own processes,” De Jong said, adding that the AI must understand the context correctly to be useful. Interoperability is another cornerstone. By adopting open, text‑based standards, Immersive ensures that files can be read and manipulated by any compatible tool.
“If you have a text‑based file, any program can parse it. The AI can read those files and act on them,” Brussee explained. This openness means that popular tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI suite can plug directly into the engine without cumbersome conversion layers, fostering a smoother pipeline. The broader AI debate in game development is heated.
Some critics, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, hype the notion that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, fueling fear of “click‑to‑game” solutions. Immersive’s team sees AI more as an accelerator than a replacement. “Big games and everything in between will be made better because AI makes everyone more capable,” Valient said.
He acknowledges the current negative perception but believes it stems from AI’s disruptive scale, which is unprecedented. De Jong adds a responsible perspective: “AI is a tool, like any other technology. It can be misused, but it’s up to us to guide its application responsibly.” Economic concerns also loom, with many questioning whether AI startups are in a bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies will fail, the underlying technology persists.
“AI isn’t disappearing; it’s evolving. We’re focused on building a solid engine that leverages AI to be faster and more visionary,” he said. Funding remains modest.
Immersive has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing them as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The team prefers to stay lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—to maintain agility. Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act.
“You can’t throw a million developers at an engine and expect it to work,” De Jong remarked. “You need a small, focused group to make thoughtful decisions and iterate.” At the same time, they recognize a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry, and they aim to capture it without over‑extending resources.
Immersive is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. They plan to release this demo within the month, already having accelerated their timeline—what was projected to take until year‑end is now expected 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, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, encouraging risk‑taking and artistic expression. “We love games and want to see more creativity and daring projects. If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing,” Brussee concluded.