For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, powering roughly 70% of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While open‑source options like Godot have made notable strides and some studios cling to proprietary tools—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been a duopoly.
Into this landscape step three seasoned veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who have founded Immersive (Immens) with the conviction that a fresh engine can still carve out space and improve the status quo. The trio’s résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry: experience at Epic Games, the creators of Unreal; stints at Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their combined expertise fuels a belief that the next generation of engines can be built differently, leveraging advances in artificial intelligence that simply weren’t available a few years ago. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right: “There’s an opportunity now to build a new engine that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.
With AI‑assisted programming, you can start building from scratch again, under guided control, and achieve full functionality quickly.” He emphasizes that AI is not a magic prompt that conjures assets, but a tool that makes the underlying codebase more extensible. Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, clarifies this point. He says the AI in Immersive is designed to make the engine itself more adaptable.
“AI can reason about large amounts of data and code. If we architect the engine with that in mind, even small teams or solo developers can extend it beyond simple scripting.
Want a custom particle system? You can add it directly. The AI helps you do that faster.” This philosophy underpins their vision of an engine that encourages rapid, user‑driven extensions rather than forcing developers into a monolithic workflow. The motivation behind Immersive’s AI‑powered engine stems from the current economic pressures on game makers.
Brussee describes the market as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing, making it harder for studios to survive. “We need new ways of working—more efficient processes that lower cost, let smaller teams ship faster, and reduce the financial risk to developers,” he says. The founders argue that the prevailing "standardisation and consolidation" of engine technology, while providing a solid foundation, has also stifled innovation. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that today’s engines often impose a "monolithic approach"—developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines.
With AI, Immersive aims to flip that model, delivering an engine that molds itself to the creator’s needs. “It must be flexible: you can swap components, append new features, modify existing tools, and build custom interfaces that match your workflow exactly,” he explains. This flexibility is intended to let developers craft bespoke toolsets that reflect their personal habits and project requirements.
Valient acknowledges AI’s power and its pitfalls. He warns that without careful oversight, AI can veer off course. To mitigate this, Immersive is building transparency into the engine: users will see what the AI is doing, retain a full history of changes, and maintain repeatable results.
This level of control, he argues, transforms a potentially risky technology into a reliable partner for creative problem‑solving. For instance, generating five characters with specific traits that once required weeks of manual work could now be prototyped over a coffee break, then refined or discarded as needed.
Immens deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong stresses that the framework and architecture are designed to let developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. “You choose the degree of AI assistance, but we must ensure the AI understands the context correctly,” he notes. The engine also embraces open standards, allowing seamless interoperability with tools like Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines.
Brussee adds that text‑based file formats enable any AI to read and manipulate assets, fostering smarter interfaces across the development stack. The broader industry reaction to AI in game creation is mixed.
Some voices on platforms like LinkedIn sensationalize the technology, claiming that a simple prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience. Immersive’s team tempers such hype, positioning AI as a powerful "tool" rather than a "click‑to‑game" solution. Valient believes AI will elevate the quality of both blockbuster and indie titles by enhancing creators’ capabilities, even as it currently carries negative connotations due to its disruptive potential. Economic concerns also surface, with skeptics labeling the AI boom a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet persisted and flourished. He asserts that Immersive’s focus is on delivering a genuinely good engine; AI merely accelerates development and expands creative horizons.
Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but the team is confident that solid technology will endure. Funding-wise, Immersive has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency. The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explains the balance: building an engine is complex and cannot be rushed by hiring hundreds, yet a window of opportunity exists as AI reshapes the industry.
A focused, agile team can make decisive choices and capitalize on this moment. Currently, Immersive is developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release this month. The timeline has already outpaced original expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time. While the business model is still forming, Brussee admires Epic Games’ "we succeed when you succeed" philosophy but admits 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 and want to see more daring, artistic expression," says Brussee. "If Immersive can help developers take bigger creative risks and innovate, that would be amazing."