For years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the game‑development world, together powering roughly 70 % of the titles that landed on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction and some studios cling to proprietary tools such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly. Yet three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—believe there is still space for a fresh engine, and they think AI can be the catalyst for change. The trio’s résumé reads like a who’s‑who of modern game‑making: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Their new venture, Immersive Engine (Immens), is set to challenge the status quo. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that “the opportunity now is to build a new engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.” He sees AI‑assisted programming as a way to start from scratch again, providing developers with guided, yet highly controllable, tools that can deliver full functionality in record time. Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, stresses that their use of AI is not about generating content through vague prompts.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. “AI can reason about large codebases and data sets,” he explains. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without being limited to simple scripting.” This approach aims to let creators extend the engine quickly, leveraging AI as an accelerator rather than a replacement for thoughtful engineering.
The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game development. Brussee describes the environment as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing while budgets shrink. “It’s becoming harder to break even,” he says.
“We need new workflows that cut costs, let smaller teams move faster, and reduce the financial risk to studios and individual creators.” De Jong, the company’s chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation offers a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and repeating the same old processes won’t solve them,” he asserts. “We need innovation, not more standardisation.” He points out that existing engines often force developers into a monolithic workflow, complete with proprietary file formats and rigid toolchains.
With AI, Immens intends to flip that script, delivering a flexible platform that adapts to the user’s needs. Flexibility is a recurring theme for the founders. De Jong envisions an engine where developers can swap components, append new modules, and craft custom tools tailored to their personal workflow. “Imagine being able to build an interface with exactly the shortcuts, features, and layout that suit my team’s project,” he says.
“That level of personalization is what we’re aiming for.” Valient also acknowledges AI’s potential pitfalls. While the technology is “really powerful,” it can “go off the rails quickly if you’re not paying attention.” To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep the user in the driver’s seat. “You always know what the engine is doing, you can trace its actions, and you can reproduce results reliably,” he explains.
This transparency is meant to prevent the black‑box scenarios that have worried many developers. The team highlights how AI can compress traditionally lengthy tasks into moments of inspiration.
For example, generating five distinct characters with specific traits might have taken weeks in the past. With AI‑assisted tooling, a developer could sketch the concept over coffee, run a generation script, and have a usable set of assets in minutes—saving both time and money. Immens is deliberately engineered to avoid imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that the framework and architecture are open‑ended, allowing developers to decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
“You choose the balance that works for you,” he says. “The key is ensuring the AI understands the context correctly.” Interoperability is another priority. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, Immens aims to play nicely with industry staples like Blender, Maya, and other generative tools.
“When files are human‑readable, any software can parse them,” Brussee notes. “That makes it easier for AI to manipulate assets and for developers to plug in their favorite pipelines.” The broader conversation about AI in games is polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype “click‑to‑game” engines that could produce Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens’ founders temper such hype, positioning AI as a powerful tool rather than a magic wand. “AI will make everyone better, not replace the craft,” Valient says. “It’s a disruptive technology, but like any tool, its impact depends on how responsibly we use it.” Economic concerns also swirl around the AI boom, with fears of a bubble and inflated valuations.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying technology persisted. “AI isn’t going away,” he asserts. “Our focus is on building a solid engine; AI simply accelerates our development and expands what’s possible.” Funding remains modest.
Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against excessive capital, suggesting that too much money can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design.
De Jong explains that engine development is complex and benefits from a small, focused team that can make deliberate decisions without the overhead of a massive staff. Immens is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release this month. The timeline has already outpaced their original projection; what they expected to achieve by year‑end is now on track for mid‑year. Brussee admits that predicting exact schedules is challenging when the technology is moving so quickly.
As for the business model, Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” philosophy but admits it’s too early to finalize details. 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 innovation,” Brussee concludes. “If our tech can help make that happen, it would be amazing.”