For years, Unity and Unreal have been the dominant forces in game creation, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have gained traction and some studios such as Capcom rely on proprietary tools like the RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly. Against this backdrop, three seasoned industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—have launched Immersive (Immens), a new AI‑enhanced game engine that they believe can carve out a fresh niche and address long‑standing pain points.
The founders bring an impressive résumé: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is now ripe for a novel engine, noting that "a few years ago this simply didn’t exist." He points to AI‑assisted programming as a catalyst that can let developers start from a clean slate while still retaining tight guidance and control, enabling rapid delivery of fully‑featured experiences.
Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the "prompt‑and‑get‑a‑game" hype that circulates on social media. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
"AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets," he explains. "If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo creators or small teams can plug in custom systems—say, a bespoke particle effect—without being limited to superficial scripting. The goal is to let users harness AI to extend the engine quickly and safely." The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee describes the landscape as "rough," with production budgets inflating and the risk of failure climbing.
"We need new ways of working that cut costs and let smaller teams ship faster," he says. The trio envisions a workflow where AI reduces repetitive tasks, allowing creators to focus on core design rather than endless iteration.
De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine market has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has produced stable foundations, it also stifles innovation.
"The industry faces many challenges, and repeating the same old processes won’t solve them," he asserts. He criticizes existing engines for their monolithic nature—developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. With AI, Immens aims to flip that model, offering an engine that adapts to the developer’s needs rather than forcing developers to adapt to the engine.
Flexibility is a recurring theme. De Jong explains that users should be able to interchange, append, and modify components at will, crafting bespoke tools that match their personal workflow.
Whether it’s custom shortcuts, specialized interfaces, or unique asset pipelines, the engine should accommodate those preferences without imposing a one‑size‑fits‑all solution. Valient also warns that AI, while powerful, can misbehave if left unchecked. Immens therefore emphasizes transparency: developers will always see what the AI is doing, retain a full history of changes, and maintain repeatable results. This level of control is crucial for creative pipelines where a designer might need to generate five characters with specific traits in minutes—a task that previously could take weeks.
The AI can produce a prototype, which the team can then refine or discard as needed, dramatically lowering the cost of experimentation. Immens’s architecture deliberately avoids dictating a singular workflow. De Jong stresses that the framework is deliberately open‑ended, allowing teams to decide how much AI to incorporate and where.
The engine also embraces open standards, making it interoperable with popular tools like Blender, Maya, and other generative platforms. "When files are text‑based, any tool can read them," Brussee notes. "The AI can parse those files, enabling seamless communication across the ecosystem.
This openness is something many proprietary engines have neglected." The broader conversation about AI in game development is polarized. Some commentators predict a future where a simple prompt could spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale experience, sparking fear of "click‑to‑game" solutions that could diminish craftsmanship. Immens’s team acknowledges the hype but frames AI as a collaborative instrument rather than an autonomous creator. Valient says, "Big games will still be made because AI makes everyone better, not because AI replaces them." Economic concerns also surface, with many questioning whether the AI boom is a bubble.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, noting that while many startups will fail, the underlying technology—here, AI—will persist and evolve. Immens aims to build a solid engine first; AI simply accelerates the development process and expands creative horizons.
Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its "first commitments" but has not disclosed amounts, describing the capital needed as "reasonable." Brussee cautions against over‑funding, saying excess money can breed complacency.
The company remains lean—just the three founders and a handful of helpers—by design. De Jong explains that building an engine is a complex, nuanced task that benefits from a small, focused team rather than a massive workforce. The team is already demonstrating progress.
They are working on a proof‑of‑concept that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing flow, with a demo slated for release this month. Brussee reveals that what was originally projected to take until year‑end is now arriving roughly twice as fast, underscoring the efficiency gains they anticipate for users.
As for the business model, Immens admires Epic Games’ "we succeed when you succeed" philosophy but admits it is too early to finalize details. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to take more artistic risks and push the medium forward.
"We love games and want to see more creativity and risk‑taking," Brussee concludes. "If our technology can help spark that innovation, it would be amazing."