For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles released on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction, most major studios still rely on proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example. This concentration has left the market feeling almost locked in.
Enter Immersive Technologies, better known as Immens, a startup founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who's‑who of game‑making history, featuring 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, and more importantly, room for a new way of building games.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a novel engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. “With AI‑assisted programming, you can start building from scratch again,” he said. “Guided by intelligent tools, you can achieve full‑featured functionality much faster than before.” Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the kind that generates whole assets from a single prompt. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
“AI can reason about massive amounts of data and source code,” he noted. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system, a bespoke animation pipeline, or any other feature without being limited to a tiny scripting layer.” This approach aims to let creators extend the engine quickly, using AI as a productivity accelerator rather than a magical shortcut. The motivation behind Immens’s AI‑centric engine is the current economic climate of the games industry, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Development costs are spiralling, and the risk of a studio’s collapse grows with each budget‑busting title.
“We need new, more efficient ways of working,” he argued. “If we can shrink teams, shorten schedules, and lower budgets, we reduce the existential threat to developers.” De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become increasingly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation. “The industry faces many challenges, and simply repeating the old formula won’t solve them,” he said.
“We need breakthrough ideas, not more of the same.” He criticizes today’s engines for their monolithic nature, which forces developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immens hopes to deliver a platform that bends to the user’s needs. Flexibility is a core design principle.
De Jong explains that developers should be able to swap components, append new modules, and craft custom tools tailored to their personal workflow. “Imagine building an interface that mirrors exactly how you think, with the shortcuts, features, and layout you prefer,” he said. “That level of personalization is what we’re targeting.” Valient also warns that AI can misbehave if left unchecked. “It’s incredibly powerful, but it can go off the rails quickly,” he cautioned.
Immens therefore builds transparency into the engine: users can see what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable outcomes. This control enables rapid prototyping—such as generating five characters with specific traits in minutes rather than weeks—while still allowing developers to discard temporary tools once they’ve served their purpose. The engine’s architecture deliberately avoids imposing a single workflow. De Jong emphasizes that teams can decide how much AI to incorporate and where to apply it.
The underlying framework is open‑standard‑friendly, meaning that text‑based files can be read and manipulated by any compatible software. “If you’re using Blender, Maya, or any generative tool, you can plug it straight into Immens because everything speaks the same language,” Brussee explained.
This openness counters the “weird outlier” problem where many engines lock users into closed ecosystems. Public sentiment toward AI in game development is mixed. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the idea of creating Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences with a single prompt, fueling fear that AI will replace human creativity. Immens’s founders see a more nuanced future.
Valient acknowledges that “click‑to‑game” engines might one day exist, but for now AI is a powerful assistant, not a replacement. “AI makes everyone better,” he said, “and the negative connotations stem from the scale of disruption we’ve never seen before.” De Jong adds a responsible‑use perspective: AI, like any tool, can be misused, but the industry has a duty to steer it toward productive outcomes.
He likens the current AI hype to the dot‑com bubble, noting that while many companies will fail, the underlying technology will endure. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply helps us iterate faster and dream bigger,” Valient said.
Whether the AI market is a bubble remains uncertain, but Immens is betting on the longevity of the technology itself. Funding for Immens is still in its early stages.
The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed exact figures, only describing the amount as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑funding, noting that too much capital can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed.
The team remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explains that building an engine is a complex, long‑term effort that cannot be rushed by simply adding hundreds of engineers. Instead, a small, focused group can make deliberate decisions and adapt quickly to the evolving market. Immens is currently targeting a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The goal is to release this demo within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced their original projection of year‑end completion. “We’re moving twice as fast as we expected,” Brussee reported, underscoring the acceleration that AI can provide. The business model is still being refined.
While Immens admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy, they consider it premature to commit to a specific revenue structure. The focus remains on delivering a tool that empowers creators, lowers barriers, and ultimately fuels more innovative games.
In summary, Immens aims to reshape the development landscape by delivering an AI‑enhanced, highly extensible engine that prioritizes flexibility, openness, and developer control. The founders hope their platform will enable smaller teams to produce ambitious titles without the prohibitive costs that currently dominate the industry. As Brussee puts it, “We love games, we love artistic expression, and we want to see more risk‑taking and creativity. If our technology can help make that happen, it would be amazing.”