For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the de‑facto platforms for game creation, together accounting for roughly 70 % of all titles launched on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has begun to attract attention and a handful of large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the market has largely been a duopoly dominated by the two giants. Enter Immersive Technologies, better known as Immens, a start‑up founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who's‑who of modern game development, with experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes the current landscape still has room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of existing tools and leverages recent advances in artificial intelligence. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the possibilities that didn’t exist a few years ago are now within reach.” He argues that AI‑assisted programming can let developers start from a clean slate again, providing “guided, controllable” pathways to full‑featured products much more quickly than traditional pipelines. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the company’s use of AI is not about prompting the system to conjure assets out of thin air.
Instead, the AI is embedded in the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. “If we design the engine with AI reasoning in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system or a bespoke gameplay mechanic without wrestling with opaque scripting layers,” he says. The goal is to let creators extend the engine itself, not just use it as a black‑box tool. The motivation behind this AI‑centric approach stems from the harsh economic realities of modern game development.
Brussee describes the market as “rough,” noting that production costs keep climbing and that many studios struggle to stay afloat. He asks whether new workflows can break this cycle, enabling smaller teams to ship high‑quality experiences on tighter budgets and shorter timelines.
The answer, according to Immens, lies in smarter, AI‑augmented pipelines that reduce repetitive work and accelerate iteration. De Jong, the chief product officer, observes that the engine space has become increasingly standardized and consolidated. While that stability provides a solid foundation, he argues it also stifles innovation.
“The industry faces a raft of challenges, and simply repeating the same processes won’t cut it,” he says. “We need a different way—flexibility over monolith.” He points out that today’s engines often force developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immens aims to deliver a system that molds itself to the developer’s needs, allowing interchangeable modules, custom tools, and personalized interfaces. Valient acknowledges AI’s power but also its volatility.
“If you don’t keep an eye on it, the system can go off the rails,” he warns. To mitigate this, Immens is built to keep the user in the driver’s seat: every AI action is logged, repeatable, and transparent. This auditability lets developers understand exactly how a tool arrived at a result, whether they are generating five unique characters in a morning coffee break or crafting a complex animation pipeline. Flexibility is baked into Immens’s core philosophy.
De Jong emphasizes that the engine does not impose a single workflow. Teams can decide how much AI to incorporate and where, while still retaining the option to fall back on manual control. The architecture is deliberately modular, supporting open standards that facilitate seamless integration with popular content‑creation tools such as Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI service.
Brussee notes that text‑based file formats enable any AI to read and manipulate assets, breaking down the “weird outlier” status of many current engines that lock users into closed ecosystems. The broader conversation about AI in games is charged with both excitement and skepticism. Some commentators on LinkedIn predict a future where a single prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world, sparking fears of “click‑to‑game” shortcuts.
Immens’s team tempers these expectations, framing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human creativity. Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry, making developers more capable, not less. De Jong adds that, like any tool, AI must be used responsibly; the onus is on creators to steer it toward constructive outcomes.
Economic concerns also loom large. Critics worry that AI‑centric startups are riding a speculative bubble with inflated valuations.
Valient counters that while bubbles burst, the underlying technology rarely disappears—compare the dot‑com era’s excesses with the enduring presence of the internet today. Immens’s focus remains on delivering a genuinely useful engine; AI simply accelerates their development and expands the creative horizon.
Funding details are still under wraps. The founders have secured “first commitments” but have not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. Immens deliberately stays lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to retain agility and keep decision‑making tight. Building an engine is a massive undertaking that cannot be solved by throwing a million engineers at the problem.
De Jong stresses the need for a small, focused team that can iterate thoughtfully while capitalizing on the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise. Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month.
The team is already moving twice as fast as their original timeline predicted, underscoring the productivity gains they aim to embed in the final product. As for the business model, Immens admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” licensing approach but admits it’s too early to commit to a specific strategy. Ultimately, Brussee hopes the engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking, artistic expression, and technical innovation. “We love games,” he says.
“We want to see more creativity, more daring projects, and we hope our technology can be the catalyst for that next wave of groundbreaking experiences.”