For years, Unity and Unreal have held sway over the game‑development landscape, together powering roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has enjoyed a surge in popularity and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the market has largely been dominated by the two giants. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immersive Technologies, a startup that aims to introduce a fresh, AI‑enhanced engine to the scene.
The founders’ résumés read like a who’s‑who of game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their collective belief is that the current engine ecosystem, while mature, still leaves room for meaningful innovation. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is ripe for a new platform that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.
“With AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again,” he explained. “Guided by intelligent tools, developers can achieve full‑featured results much faster than before.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, is quick to clarify that the company’s use of AI is not about generating assets through vague prompts. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
“AI excels at reasoning over large codebases,” he said. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system, tweak rendering pipelines, or introduce entirely new gameplay mechanics without being confined to a limited scripting layer.” In essence, the AI acts as a collaborative assistant that accelerates extension and iteration, rather than a magic button that conjures finished games. The motivation behind Immens’s ambitious project stems from a broader industry malaise.
Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” noting that development costs continue to climb while budgets shrink, making it increasingly difficult for small studios to survive. “We need new ways of working that reduce risk, lower expenses, and let teams create high‑quality experiences with fewer hands and less time,” he said.
De Jong echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While standardization provides a solid foundation, the industry now demands genuine innovation, not just incremental improvements. One of the core criticisms De Jong has of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers are forced to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows, limiting creative freedom.
With AI integration, Immens aims to flip that script: the engine should adapt to the developer, not the other way around. “Flexibility is key,” he emphasized. “You should be able to swap components, append new modules, or build bespoke tools that match your personal workflow—down to the exact shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you need for your project.” Valient acknowledges that AI, while powerful, can be unpredictable if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immens is building transparency into the system.
Users will have full visibility into what the AI is doing, its decision history, and the ability to reproduce results reliably. This control ensures that developers can trust the tool for mission‑critical tasks, such as generating a set of characters with specific traits, which previously might have taken weeks of manual labor. Now, the same outcome could be prototyped over a coffee break, dramatically reducing cost and time.
The platform’s design philosophy deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stressed that Immens provides a framework, leaving the choice of how much AI to employ entirely up to the user. “Whether you want a hands‑off, AI‑driven pipeline or a more traditional approach, the architecture supports it,” he said. This modularity extends to interoperability: by embracing open, text‑based standards, Immens ensures seamless communication with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI service.
“When files are readable as plain text, any system can parse them, enabling smarter interfaces across the entire development stack,” Brussee explained. The conversation around AI in games is often polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn sensationalize the technology, claiming that a simple prompt could soon spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immens’s team cautions against such hype.
While they envision a future where “click‑to‑game” engines exist, they view AI primarily as a productivity enhancer—a tool that makes creators better, not a replacement for human ingenuity. Valient noted that AI’s current negative perception stems from its disruptive speed, which unsettles established processes.
Economic concerns also loom large. Critics warn of an AI bubble with inflated valuations.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, arguing that while many companies will fade, the underlying technology will endure. “AI isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming the backbone of faster, more ambitious development,” he said. Immens remains modest about funding, having secured initial commitments but keeping the exact amount private. Brussee warned that excess capital can breed complacency, emphasizing the need to stay scrappy.
Currently, Immens is a lean operation—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. They believe a small, focused team is essential for navigating the complex challenges of building a new engine. Scaling too quickly could dilute vision, while moving too slowly risks missing the narrow window of opportunity presented by rapid AI advancements.
The company aims to deliver a proof‑of‑concept demo this month, showcasing a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. Brussee admitted that their timeline has already outpaced initial expectations, delivering results twice as fast as projected. Regarding the business model, Immens is still exploring options. While they admire Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” revenue share, they consider it 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 the medium they love. As Brussee put it, “We want to see more creativity, more daring games, built on technology that amplifies human imagination. That would be amazing."