For years, Unity and Unreal have reigned supreme in game development, accounting for roughly 70% of the titles launched on Steam in 2025. While Godot has made notable strides recently and some studios—such as Capcom with its proprietary RE Engine—prefer in‑house solutions, 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. The founders’ résumés read like a who's‑who of modern game tech: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. Their combined expertise gives them a unique perspective on why the status quo may be ripe for disruption.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that the timing is perfect for a new engine, noting that “the opportunity didn’t exist a couple of years ago.” He believes AI‑assisted programming can revive the notion of building tools from the ground up, offering developers a way to achieve full functionality quickly while retaining tight oversight. Valient, Immens’s chief technology officer, clarifies that the AI they employ is not the typical “prompt‑to‑content” model that dominates headlines.
Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible. He explains, “If we design the code with AI in mind, even solo developers can plug in custom systems—like a bespoke particle engine—without being limited to simple scripting.” This approach aims to let creators extend the engine rapidly, leveraging AI’s ability to reason over large codebases and data sets. The motivation behind Immens is rooted in the current economic pressures of game production. Brussee describes the market as “rough,” emphasizing that development costs are spiraling upward, making it increasingly difficult for small teams to succeed without risking their studios.
He asks whether new workflows can break this cycle, reducing budgets and timelines while still delivering high‑quality experiences. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated.
While this has provided a stable foundation, he argues that the industry now needs genuine innovation rather than incremental refinements. He criticizes the “monolithic approach” of existing engines, where developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines. With AI, De Jong envisions an engine that molds itself to the developer’s needs, offering interchangeable components, custom tools, and personalized interfaces tailored to each project. Valient acknowledges AI’s power but warns of its volatility.
He stresses that Immens will keep users in the driver’s seat, providing full transparency over what the AI does, its decision history, and ensuring repeatable outcomes. This level of control, he says, enables rapid prototyping—imagine generating five unique characters over a coffee break rather than spending weeks on manual iteration. Such workflows, once prohibitively expensive, become accessible and cost‑effective. Flexibility is a core design principle for Immens.
De Jong insists the engine does not impose a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The architecture is deliberately open, allowing integration with common industry tools. Brussee highlights the importance of open standards: text‑based file formats mean any software—Blender, Maya, or future generative tools—can read and write data, fostering seamless interoperability.
This contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering cross‑tool collaboration. The broader conversation around AI in game development is polarized. Some commentators predict a future where a simple prompt can spawn a Grand Theft Auto‑scale world, fueling fear of “click‑to‑game” solutions. Immens’s team, however, views AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement.
Valient believes AI will elevate the entire industry, making creators more capable, even if the technology currently carries negative connotations due to its disruptive scale. Economic anxieties also linger, with concerns that AI‑focused startups may be caught in a speculative bubble. Valient draws parallels to the dot‑com era, noting that while many companies vanished, the underlying internet persisted and flourished.
He argues that Immens’s focus on building a solid engine—using AI to accelerate development and expand creative horizons—positions it to survive regardless of market hype. Funding remains modest. Immens has secured its “first commitments” but has not disclosed amounts, describing the target as “reasonable.” Brussee cautions against over‑capitalization, suggesting that excess cash can breed complacency, whereas a lean budget encourages scrappiness and focus. The company currently consists of the three founders plus a handful of helpers, intentionally keeping the team small to make decisive, high‑impact choices.
Immens is now racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases AI‑driven editing workflows, slated for release within the month. Brussee notes that the project, which began in April, is already moving twice as fast as initially projected, underscoring the speed gains AI can deliver. Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy but admits it’s too early for concrete plans.
Ultimately, the founders hope Immens will empower developers to push creative boundaries, take risks, and produce games that advance the medium. As Brussee puts it, “We love games, we love complex artistic expression, and we want to see more innovation built on this kind of technology.
That would be amazing.”