For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to platforms for game creators, accounting for roughly 70 % of the titles that appeared on Steam in 2025. While the open‑source Godot engine has enjoyed a surge in popularity and a handful of studios still rely on proprietary solutions such as Capcom’s RE Engine, the market has largely been a duopoly dominated by the two giants.
Enter Immers, a startup founded by three industry veterans—Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient—who believe there is still space for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the status quo. Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of modern game development: experience at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple.
Together they aim to challenge the entrenched players with a platform built around artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new engine because “the tools that existed a couple of years ago simply don’t exist any more.” He argues that AI‑assisted programming now makes it feasible to start a project from a clean slate while still retaining tight guidance and control.
“You can get full‑blown functionality up and running very quickly when the engine is designed to work hand‑in‑hand with AI,” he said. Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, is quick to clarify that the AI they employ is not the sort of generative prompt‑to‑image wizard 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 in mind, even a solo developer can add a custom particle system, a new shading model, or any other feature without wrestling with a monolithic, closed‑source framework,” he explained. The goal is to let creators extend the engine faster, using AI as a reasoning engine that can navigate large codebases and suggest or generate extensions on demand.
The motivation behind Immers’ AI‑centric approach is rooted in the current economic climate of game development. Brussee describes the market as “rough,” noting that production budgets keep inflating while the risk of failure grows. “We need new ways of working that lower costs, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he said.
By leveraging AI to automate repetitive tasks and streamline pipelines, Immers hopes to give small studios a realistic chance to compete without jeopardising their financial stability. De Jong, the chief product officer, points out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that standardization has provided a solid foundation, the industry now faces a series of challenges that cannot be solved by merely polishing existing tools.
“We need innovation, not more of the same,” he asserted. He criticises the monolithic nature of current engines, which force developers to adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immers envisions an engine that bends to the user’s needs, allowing developers to swap modules, append new functionality, and craft bespoke tools tailored to their specific projects.
Valient acknowledges that AI is a double‑edged sword. Its power can be spectacular, but it can also “go off the rails” if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immers is built around transparency: users can see exactly what the AI is doing, review its decision history, and ensure repeatable results. This level of control is crucial for creative pipelines where, for example, generating five characters with distinct traits used to take weeks; now a developer could prototype them over a coffee break, reuse the generated assets, and discard the tool afterward—saving both time and money.
Flexibility is baked into Immers from the ground up. De Jong stresses that the engine does not enforce a single workflow; developers decide how much AI to incorporate and where. The architecture is deliberately modular so that teams can pick and choose the level of automation that fits their pipeline. Moreover, Immers embraces open standards, meaning that files are stored in text‑based formats that any tool can read.
“If you’re working in Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI suite, you can plug it straight into Immers because everything speaks the same language,” Brussee said. This openness contrasts with many proprietary engines that act as closed ecosystems, hindering interoperability.
The broader conversation around AI in games is polarized. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that could produce Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt.
Immers’ team acknowledges that such a vision might someday be possible, but they view AI primarily as an augmenting tool rather than a replacement for human creativity. “AI makes everyone better, not a substitute for designers,” Valient remarked, noting the technology’s current negative connotations stem from its disruptive scale. Economic anxieties also swirl around AI, with critics warning of a bubble fueled by inflated valuations.
Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era, arguing that while many AI startups will fail, the underlying technology will endure. “We’re focused on building a solid engine; AI simply helps us move faster and think bigger,” he said. Whether the market is in a bubble remains uncertain, but Immers plans to stay resilient by concentrating on product quality over hype.
Funding details remain vague. Immers has secured its “first commitments,” but the founders have not disclosed the exact amount, describing it as “reasonable.” Brussee warns against over‑capitalization, noting that excess cash can breed complacency. The company deliberately remains lean—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers—to maintain agility and keep development focused. Currently, Immers is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow.
The team expected this milestone by year‑end, yet they are already two‑fold ahead of schedule. “Timelines are fluid when you have AI accelerating the process,” Brussee laughed.
Business model discussions are still early. While Immers admires Epic’s revenue‑share philosophy—where the platform succeeds when its users do—they admit it’s too soon to commit to a specific approach. Ultimately, the founders hope their engine will empower creators to push the medium forward, fostering more risk‑taking, artistic expression, and innovation.
“We love games and want to see the art form evolve,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology can help bring more daring, creative projects to life, that would be amazing.”