For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, together powering roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has gained noticeable traction lately, most major studios still lean on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—leaving the market largely in the hands of the two giants.
Enter Immers, a fledgling company founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game development, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Together they believe there is still space for a fresh engine, and more importantly, for a new way of building it.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “A few years ago, the kind of engine we envision didn’t exist. With AI‑assisted programming now feasible, we can start from scratch again and get full‑featured tools up quickly under tight guidance and control.” Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, is quick to clarify that the AI they employ isn’t the “prompt‑to‑art” hype that dominates headlines. “Our AI is baked into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible,” he said.
“Because AI can reason over large codebases, we can design the core so that even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle effect—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers.” In short, AI becomes a catalyst for rapid extension rather than a black‑box generator. The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from the current bleak economics of game development. Brussee described the landscape as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing and studios are forced to gamble huge budgets for diminishing returns.
“We need new workflows that lower cost, shrink team size, and accelerate timelines,” he argued. “If we can break that cycle, we protect livelihoods and give creators more freedom.” De Jong, Immers’ chief product officer, echoed the sentiment, pointing out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry now faces a series of challenges, and simply iterating on the same old tools isn’t enough,” he said. “We need a different approach—one that embraces flexibility rather than imposing a monolithic, one‑size‑fits‑all solution.” Current engines often force developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. De Jong envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs: “You should be able to swap components, add new ones, and craft bespoke tools that match your workflow exactly—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require for a particular project.” Valient acknowledges that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. “We’re building Immers so that the user stays in the driver’s seat,” he explained.
“You always see what the engine is doing, its decision history, and you can reproduce results reliably. This transparency lets you create throw‑away tools for specific tasks—like generating five characters with a unique trait in minutes—without the massive overhead that used to take weeks.” Flexibility is baked into Immers’ core philosophy. De Jong stresses that the engine imposes no prescribed workflow: “You decide how much AI to involve and where.
Our architecture simply provides the scaffolding for you to choose.” He also highlights the importance of open standards. “When files are text‑based, any tool can read them. That means Blender, Maya, or any generative system can plug straight into Immers, communicating through shared, open formats. This interoperability has been missing from many proprietary engines.” The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized.
Some pundits on LinkedIn hype a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world, sparking fear and backlash. Immers’ team sees a more measured future. Valient admits that “click‑to‑game” engines may eventually exist, but for now AI should be treated as a sophisticated tool that amplifies human creativity, not replaces it. “AI is disrupting at a scale we haven’t seen, which creates negative connotations, but it also makes everyone better at what they do.” Economic anxieties also linger, with many questioning whether AI‑focused startups are part of a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: “The internet didn’t disappear when the bubble burst; the over‑hyped companies vanished, but the underlying technology persisted. We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and lets us dream bigger.” Funding remains modest. Immers has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against excess capital: “Too much money can make a startup lazy.
We thrive on being scrappy.” The company currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, deliberately staying lean to maintain agility. Balancing team size with ambition is a delicate act. De Jong notes that creating an engine is a complex endeavor that cannot be solved by simply throwing a million engineers at it. “You need a small, focused group to make thoughtful decisions, yet you also need enough resources to hit the market window created by AI’s rise.” Immers is now working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month.
Brussee admits the timeline has been faster than anticipated: “We thought we’d be ready by year‑end; we’re already two‑times ahead, so predicting exact dates is tricky.” The business model is still under discussion. While Immers appreciates Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, Brussee says it’s too early to commit to a specific approach.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward. “We love games as complex artistic expressions and want to see more risk‑taking and innovation,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help bring more daring, creative experiences to life, that would be amazing."