For many years, Unity and Unreal have ruled the game‑development landscape, powering roughly 70% of Steam releases projected for 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction, most major studios still lean on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving Unity and Unreal with a near‑monopoly on the market.
Enter Immersive, a fledgling studio founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the current offerings. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of game‑tech heavyweights: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together, they aim to challenge the status quo and give developers a more adaptable, cost‑effective tool. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the opportunity didn’t exist a couple of years ago.” He argues that AI‑augmented programming now makes it feasible to rebuild core technology from the ground up while still providing developers with strong guidance and rapid feature delivery. “With AI‑supported coding, you can start from scratch again and get full functionality quickly,” he said.
Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are integrating is not the typical “prompt‑to‑asset” gimmick that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is baked into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason over large codebases and data sets,” he noted.
“If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or any other feature without being limited to simple scripting.” The goal is to let creators harness AI to accelerate extensions and customizations, rather than merely generate static assets. The motivation behind Immersive’s AI‑powered engine stems from the harsh economic reality of modern game development. Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” pointing out that production costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for small teams to break even. He asked, “Can we find new ways of working that lower costs, speed up timelines, and let studios of any size succeed without risking everything?” De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and repeating the same old processes won’t solve them,” he said. “We need genuine innovation, not just more of the same.” He criticized existing engines for their monolithic nature, which forces developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and workflows. With AI, Immersive envisions an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs, offering interchangeable modules, appendable components, and fully custom toolchains.
Flexibility is a recurring theme. De Jong explained that a developer should be able to craft tools that match their personal workflow—exact shortcuts, interfaces, and features—without fighting against a rigid system. This level of customization, powered by AI, could dramatically reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks.
For instance, creating five characters with a specific trait might have taken weeks in a traditional pipeline; with AI‑enhanced tooling, a developer could sketch the concept over coffee and have a functional prototype within minutes, reusing the tool as needed before discarding it. Valient warned that AI, while powerful, can “go off the rails quickly” if left unchecked. Immersive therefore emphasizes transparency and control: users will always know what the engine is doing, have access to its decision history, and be able to reproduce results reliably. This auditability is crucial for maintaining artistic intent and avoiding the black‑box pitfalls that some fear with generative AI.
The architecture of Immersive’s engine is deliberately open. By relying on text‑based, open‑standard file formats, the engine can interoperate with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines. Brussee highlighted that when files are readable as plain text, the AI can parse and manipulate them effortlessly, fostering a seamless workflow across different software ecosystems. This openness contrasts with many current engines that act as “weird outliers,” resisting integration with industry standards.
Public sentiment toward AI in game development is mixed. Some commentators sensationalize the technology, claiming that a single prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immersive’s team acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a “tool” rather than a magic button. Valient believes AI will make “big games and everything in between better” by enhancing creators’ capabilities, even though the technology currently carries negative connotations due to its disruptive potential.
Economic anxieties also linger, especially concerns that AI‑focused startups might be riding a speculative bubble. Valient likened the situation to the dot‑com era: the internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; many companies fell, but the underlying technology persisted.
Immersive’s focus is on building a genuinely useful engine; AI simply accelerates development and expands creative horizons. Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the team is confident that a solid product will endure. Funding details are still vague.
Immersive has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against excessive capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. The company remains intentionally lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—because building a sophisticated engine requires careful decision‑making, not a massive workforce. Balancing resources and timing is critical. De Jong explained that a small, focused team can iterate thoughtfully, whereas a large crew might introduce coordination overhead.
At the same time, there is a narrow window of opportunity as AI reshapes the industry. Immersive aims to hit that sweet spot: enough funding and talent to capitalize on the moment without over‑extending. Currently, Immersive is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases “the flow of editing something” using generative AI, slated for release later this month.
The development timeline has already outpaced original expectations—what was projected to take until year‑end is now on track for early completion—demonstrating the speed gains the team anticipates for future users. The business model remains under discussion. While the founders admire Epic Games’ revenue‑share approach—“we succeed when you succeed”—they admit it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, Brussee hopes Immersive will enable creators to push the artistic envelope, take more risks, and deliver innovative experiences that move the medium forward.
"We love games and want to see more creativity and risk‑taking," he said. "If our technology helps bring that to life, that would be amazing."