For more than a decade, Unity and Unreal have been the default choices for game creators, powering roughly seventy percent of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have enjoyed notable momentum, and some studios continue to rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly dominated by the two giants. Enter Immersive Technologies—better known as Immens—founded by three seasoned veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, with stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine, one that addresses the shortcomings of the current generation and leverages the latest advances in artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right because “the kind of engine we could build didn’t exist a couple of years ago.” He argues that AI‑augmented programming now makes it feasible to start from a clean slate and still deliver a fully functional product quickly, provided the right amount of guidance and control is baked into the system.
Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, is careful to distinguish his vision of AI from the hype‑driven “prompt‑to‑content” narrative that dominates headlines. He says the AI in Immens is fundamentally about constructing an engine that is highly extensible.
By designing the codebase so that it can reason about large data sets and its own architecture, smaller teams—or even solo developers—can plug in custom features without being constrained to a narrow scripting layer. "If a developer wants a bespoke particle system, they can add it directly into the engine," Valient notes, emphasizing that the AI serves as a catalyst for rapid extension rather than a magic wand. The motivation behind this ambitious project is rooted in the current state of the games market, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Development costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for studios to break even.
He asks whether new workflows could lower expenses, speed up production, and reduce the financial risk that threatens many independent studios. De Jong, the chief product officer, echoes this sentiment, observing that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation provides a stable foundation, it also stifles the innovation needed to tackle emerging challenges. One of the pain points De Jong highlights is the monolithic nature of existing engines.
Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, limiting creativity. With AI, Immens aims to flip that script: the engine should adapt to the developer, not the other way around.
"Flexibility is key," he says. "You should be able to swap components, append new modules, and craft tools that match your personal workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you prefer." Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword.
While it is incredibly powerful, it can also veer off course if left unchecked. Immens therefore places control firmly in the user’s hands. Every action taken by the AI is logged, reproducible, and transparent, allowing developers to audit and refine the process. This level of oversight makes it possible to generate, for example, five uniquely‑behaved characters in the time it once took weeks, then discard the temporary tool once the job is done—something that would have been prohibitively expensive before.
The architecture of Immens is deliberately agnostic. It does not force a single workflow or prescribe how much AI should be employed. Instead, the framework is built on open standards, meaning files are stored in human‑readable text formats that any compatible tool can parse. Brussee points out that this openness enables seamless integration with industry staples such as Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline.
"When everything speaks the same language, you can plug in whatever you need without fighting against a closed‑source engine," he explains. There is a vocal backlash against AI in game development, with some pundits warning that a “click‑to‑game” future could reduce creativity to a series of prompts. Immens’ team sees AI not as a replacement but as an enhancer. Valient believes AI will make developers better, not replace them, and stresses that any technology can be misused—responsibility lies with the users.
De Jong adds that the industry must adopt AI responsibly, treating it as another tool in the creative toolbox. Economic concerns also swirl around the AI boom, with many questioning whether the sector is a bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while numerous startups will fail, the underlying technology—here, AI—will persist and evolve.
Immens aims to be one of the enduring products, focusing on building a robust engine first and letting AI accelerate its development. Funding remains modest. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed exact figures, preferring a “reasonable” amount that avoids the pitfalls of over‑capitalization. Brussee jokes that too much money can make a startup lazy, whereas a lean operation forces scrappiness and careful decision‑making.
The current team consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, a size they consider optimal for iterating on a complex engine without overwhelming bureaucracy. Immens is now working toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases an end‑to‑end editing flow powered by generative AI, slated for release later this month. The timeline has already outpaced their original expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now on track for a much earlier launch. As for the business model, Brussee hints that Immens admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” approach but admits it’s too early to lock in specifics.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking, artistic expression, and innovation. "We love games and want to see the art form evolve," Brussee concludes. "If our technology can help developers build more daring experiences, that would be amazing."