For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have begun to attract attention, the majority of large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example. The market, therefore, appears firmly in the hands of the two giants.
Enter Immers, a fledgling company founded by three seasoned 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 room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the current status quo.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform. “A few years ago the idea of an AI‑enhanced engine was more fantasy than reality.
Today, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start from a clean slate and deliver full‑featured tools much faster,” he said. Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI component is not about generating content through simple prompts.
“Our AI is baked into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible,” he noted. “Because AI can analyze large codebases efficiently, we can design the system so that even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom modules—like a bespoke particle system—without wrestling with rigid scripting layers.” This extensibility, he argues, is the key to letting creators extend the engine at speed.
The motivation behind Immers is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee described the environment as “rough,” emphasizing that production costs are spiralling upward and that many studios struggle to break even. “We need new workflows that lower expenses, shrink team sizes, and shorten timelines,” he said.
“Otherwise, developers risk their livelihoods and the very existence of their studios.” De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine market has become increasingly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a stable foundation, he believes the industry now requires genuine innovation rather than incremental upgrades. “Continuing to do exactly what we’ve always done won’t solve the challenges we face,” he warned.
“We need a different approach.” One of the pain points De Jong highlighted is the monolithic nature of existing engines. Developers are forced to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, limiting creative freedom. With AI, Immers aims to deliver a platform that molds itself to the developer’s needs.
“Flexibility is essential,” he explained. “You should be able to swap components, append new features, and build custom tools that match your workflow—down to the exact shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you require.” Valient also cautioned that AI, while powerful, can behave unpredictably if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immers is built to keep users 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 said. This transparency allows developers to create disposable, task‑specific tools—such as a rapid character generator that can be spun up over a coffee break and discarded after use—without the massive overhead that traditional pipelines demand. The architecture of Immers is deliberately agnostic.
De Jong stressed that the engine does not enforce a single workflow or a prescribed amount of AI usage. “You decide how much AI you want and where you apply it,” he said.
“Our job is to ensure the AI understands the context correctly, but the creative decisions remain yours.” Interoperability is another cornerstone of the platform. By embracing open, text‑based standards, Immers can communicate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI system. “When files are human‑readable, any program can parse them,” Brussee explained. “This openness lets the AI read and manipulate assets directly, breaking the isolation that many proprietary engines enforce.” The broader conversation about AI in game development is often polarized.
Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure a GTA‑scale experience from a single prompt. Immers’ team acknowledges that such extremes are unlikely in the near term. Valient views AI primarily as a productivity enhancer: “AI will make every developer better, not replace them.
It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused, but it also has the potential to unlock unprecedented creativity.” Economic concerns also swirl around the AI boom, with fears of a bubble and inflated valuations. Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies will fall, the underlying technology will endure. “AI isn’t disappearing,” he said.
“The internet survived its bubble, and AI will likely follow a similar trajectory—some firms will fail, but the good ones that build solid products will thrive.” Funding for Immers remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warned against over‑capitalization, noting that excess money can breed complacency.
“Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. “Too much cash can make you lazy.” The team itself is lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This intentional small size allows rapid decision‑making and focused development.
De Jong explained the trade‑off: “You can’t throw a million engineers at an engine and expect it to work. You need a tight, skilled group to iterate and make critical architectural choices, especially given the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise.” Immers is currently targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a full editing workflow powered by generative AI, slated for release later this month.
The timeline has already outpaced original expectations; what was projected to take until year‑end is now on track for a spring launch. Brussee admitted that predicting exact dates is challenging when progress accelerates so quickly. Regarding the business model, Immers is still exploring options. While they admire Epic Games’ revenue‑share philosophy—where the platform succeeds when its users succeed—they consider it premature to lock in a specific approach.
Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will enable a new wave of daring, artistic games. “We love games as an expressive medium,” Brussee concluded.
“We want to empower creators to take more risks, push boundaries, and deliver experiences that would have been impossible under today’s constraints. If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing.”