For decades, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in the world of game development, together accounting for roughly 70% of all titles released on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has enjoyed a surge in popularity, most large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s in‑house RE Engine being a prime example—leaving Unity and Unreal firmly entrenched as the market’s dominant forces. Enter Immersive Technologies, better known as Immens, a fledgling venture founded by three industry veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game making, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key Productions, and even Apple.
Together they argue that the current engine landscape, though solid, still leaves ample room for innovation and, crucially, for a more affordable, faster development pipeline that benefits smaller teams. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee highlighted a unique window of opportunity that simply did not exist a few years ago. "With AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again," he explained.
"Guided by intelligent tools, developers can assemble fully functional systems at a pace that was previously unimaginable." Valient, Immens’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they are integrating is not the flashy, prompt‑driven generation that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible. "If we design the codebase with AI reasoning in mind, even solo creators or tiny studios can plug in custom features—like a bespoke particle system—without wrestling with opaque scripting layers," he said.
"The goal is to let people harness AI to extend the engine quickly and safely." The motivation behind this ambitious project stems from the harsh economic reality of modern game production. Brussee described the environment as "rough," noting that development costs continue to climb, pushing studios into a perilous cycle of ever‑larger budgets and bigger risks. "We need new workflows that slash expenses, let fewer people do more, and shorten time‑to‑market," he argued.
"Only then can creators protect their livelihoods and studios from financial ruin." De Jong, Immens’ chief product officer, observed that the engine market has become increasingly standardized and consolidated. While this has provided a reliable foundation, it also stifles the creativity needed to tackle emerging challenges. "The industry faces a crossroads," he said. "Continuing to iterate on the same monolithic tools won’t cut it.
We need genuine innovation, not just incremental standardisation." One of the pain points De Jong identified with existing engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, limiting flexibility. With AI, Immens aims to flip this model, delivering an engine that adapts to the developer rather than the other way around.
"Flexibility is paramount," he emphasized. "Our system lets you swap components, append new modules, and craft bespoke tools tailored to your exact workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set that suit your team’s needs." Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can quickly go off‑track if left unchecked.
Immens therefore places a strong emphasis on transparency and control. "When you use our engine, you always know what the AI is doing, why it made a decision, and you can reproduce the outcome," he explained.
"This auditability ensures that creative processes remain reliable and repeatable." He illustrated the potential impact with a concrete example: creating five characters with a specific trait used to require weeks of planning and manual labor. With AI‑driven tools, a developer could sketch the idea over a coffee, generate the assets in minutes, reuse the workflow a handful of times, and then discard it—dramatically reducing cost and time. Immens’ philosophy is deliberately engine‑agnostic.
The framework does not impose a single workflow; instead, it offers a modular architecture where developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. "We want the underlying structure to be robust enough that you can pick and choose the level of automation that fits your project," De Jong said. "At the same time, we must ensure the AI interprets instructions correctly, so the system remains trustworthy." Interoperability is another cornerstone of Immens’ design.
By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, the engine can seamlessly communicate with popular tools such as Blender, Maya, and other generative pipelines. "If everything speaks a common language, the AI can read, modify, and exchange data across applications without friction," Brussee noted. "That openness is a huge advantage over proprietary engines that often act as closed ecosystems." The broader AI debate in game development is not without controversy.
Some pundits on platforms like LinkedIn hype the notion of "click‑to‑game" engines that could conjure Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immens acknowledges the hype but treats AI as a powerful assistant rather than a magic wand. "AI will make everyone better, not replace the craft of game making," Valient asserted.
"It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be misused, but the responsibility lies with us to guide its application responsibly." Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with many fearing a speculative bubble. Valient compared the situation to the dot‑com era, arguing that while some AI startups will fade, the underlying technology will endure.
"AI isn’t disappearing; it’s evolving. The internet survived its bubble, and the same will happen with AI.
Our focus is on building a solid engine that leverages AI to accelerate development, not on chasing hype." Funding for Immens remains modest. The founders have secured initial commitments but have not disclosed exact figures, describing the amount as "reasonable." Brussee cautioned against over‑capitalisation, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. "Startups need to stay scrappy," he laughed.
"Too much money can make you lazy, and that’s the opposite of what we want." The team itself is lean: the three founders plus a handful of helpers. This size is intentional, as De Jong explained that building an engine is a complex, iterative process that benefits from focused decision‑making rather than a massive workforce. "You can’t throw a million engineers at it and expect miracles. You need a small, dedicated group to make thoughtful choices and iterate quickly," he said.
"At the same time, we must be large enough to seize the market window created by AI’s rise. Balancing those constraints is the core challenge we’re navigating." Immens is currently developing a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a full editing workflow powered by generative AI, slated for release later this month. Brussee revealed that the team originally projected a year‑long timeline, yet they are already delivering the demo in half that time, underscoring the speed gains they claim AI can provide. Regarding the business model, Immens remains in exploratory mode.
While they admire Epic Games’ revenue‑share approach—"we succeed when you succeed"—they admit it’s too early to commit to any specific pricing structure. The priority, for now, is proving the technology’s value. Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will catalyse a new wave of creativity and risk‑taking in the industry. "We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions," Brussee concluded.
"If our engine can empower developers to experiment without fear of prohibitive costs, that would be amazing—and it would push the whole medium forward."