For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some large studios still rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example—the market has largely been dominated by those two giants. Enter Immersive, a startup 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 experience at Epic Games (the makers of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the current offerings.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is now right for a new platform that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. “With AI‑assisted programming, you can start building from scratch again,” he said. “With the right guidance and control, you can create a fully functional engine much faster than before.” Valient, Immersive’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ isn’t the kind that generates content from a single prompt.
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 explained. “If we design the engine with that in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a new rendering module without being limited to simple scripting.
The AI helps you extend the engine quickly and safely.” The motivation behind this AI‑powered engine is the increasingly hostile economics of game development. Brussee described the current climate as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing and the risk of failure is high. “We need new ways of working that lower costs, speed up timelines, and let smaller teams deliver high‑quality experiences without jeopardising their studios,” he said. De Jong, the chief product officer, pointed out that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While that standardisation provides a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and simply repeating old methods won’t solve them,” he asserted.
“We need a different approach—one that embraces flexibility and creativity.” A key criticism of existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers often have to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. De Jong believes AI can flip that script, allowing the engine to adapt to the developer rather than the other way around. “You should be able to swap components, append new tools, and modify the workflow to suit your project,” he said.
“Imagine building a custom toolbar that matches your exact shortcuts, features, and interface preferences—something that feels tailor‑made for your team.” Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can behave unpredictably if left unchecked. Immersive’s design philosophy puts the user in full control: you can see the engine’s decision history, reproduce results, and create bespoke tools for specific tasks.
He illustrated this with a hypothetical: instead of spending weeks crafting five characters with a particular trait, a developer could prompt the AI, refine the output over a coffee break, and reuse the generated tool multiple times, dramatically cutting costs. Flexibility is baked into Immersive’s core. The framework does not enforce a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. De Jong emphasized that the architecture must be open enough for users to choose their own processes while ensuring the AI interprets instructions correctly.
Interoperability is another priority. By relying on open, text‑based standards, Immersive aims to make the engine play nicely with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI pipeline. “When files are human‑readable, any system can parse them,” Brussee noted.
“That means the AI can read, modify, and exchange data across the whole toolchain, something many proprietary engines struggle with.” The broader conversation about AI in games is polarized. Some pundits hype “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure a GTA‑scale world from a single prompt, while others fear a backlash against AI‑generated content.
Immersive sees AI as a tool that augments human creativity rather than replaces it. “AI will make everyone better, not take over the craft,” Valient said. “It’s disruptive, yes, but that disruption can lead to higher quality experiences.” Economic anxieties also linger, with many questioning whether the AI boom is a bubble. Valient compared it to the dot‑com era: the hype may fade, but the underlying technology persists.
“We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI just accelerates our development and expands what we can imagine,” he explained. “Whether the market is inflated or not, good products survive.” Funding remains modest. Immersive has secured its first commitments but has not disclosed the exact amount, describing it as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against over‑funding, noting that excess capital can breed complacency.
The company remains a lean operation—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong highlighted the delicate balance between team size and ambition. “You can’t throw a million developers at an engine and expect it to work,” he said.
“A small, focused group can make thoughtful decisions, but you also need enough resources to hit the market window created by AI’s rise.” Currently, Immersive is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The team expected to finish by year‑end, but they are already two‑fold ahead of schedule and plan to release the demo this month.
As for the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing 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, encouraging risk‑taking and artistic expression.
“We love games and want to see more daring, innovative titles,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology helps bring that vision to life, that would be amazing."