For many years, Unity and Unreal have been the go‑to tools for game creators, accounting for roughly seventy percent of all titles launched on Steam in 2025. While open‑source alternatives like Godot have enjoyed a surge in popularity, the majority of large studios still cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a prime example. In short, the engine market has long seemed locked into the hands of the two giants. Enter Immers, a nascent studio 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, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes the status quo still has room for disruption and that a fresh engine, built with artificial intelligence at its core, could address long‑standing pain points.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee explained that the timing feels right for a new platform. “A few years ago this concept didn’t exist,” he said. “Now, with AI‑assisted programming, we can start building from the ground up again, under tight guidance, and deliver full‑featured tools much faster.” Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the sort of generative black‑box that spits out code from a simple prompt. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make the codebase highly extensible.
“If we design the engine with AI reasoning in mind, even solo developers can plug in custom systems—say, a bespoke particle effect—without being limited to superficial scripting,” he noted. This approach aims to let creators extend the engine quickly, leveraging AI as a productivity accelerator rather than a replacement for human ingenuity.
The motivation behind Immers’ ambitious project stems from a bleak market reality that Brussee describes as “rough.” Game development costs keep climbing, making it increasingly difficult for small teams to survive. “We need new ways of working that cut expenses, shrink team sizes, and shorten timelines, so studios aren’t gambling their livelihoods on a single title,” he argued.
De Jong, the chief product officer, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that the engine landscape has become overly standardized and consolidated. While that consolidation has provided a reliable foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry now faces a suite of challenges, and simply repeating the old playbook won’t solve them. We need genuine innovation, not more of the same,” he asserted. One of the biggest criticisms aimed at current engines is their monolithic nature. Developers must adapt to proprietary file formats and rigid pipelines, which can hinder creativity.
De Jong believes AI can flip this script, delivering an engine that molds itself to the developer’s workflow. “Flexibility is key. You should be able to swap components, append new features, and craft tools that match your exact workflow—down to the shortcuts, UI layout, and feature set you need for a particular project.” Valient is quick to acknowledge AI’s limits.
While the technology is “really powerful,” it can also veer off course if left unchecked. To mitigate this, Immers is building transparency into the engine: users will always know what the AI is doing, have access to its decision history, and retain full control over the process. This auditability ensures repeatable results and prevents the “black‑box” syndrome that worries many developers.
The team envisions a future where routine tasks—like generating five characters with a specific trait—can be completed in minutes rather than weeks. “Imagine brainstorming over coffee, letting the AI draft a tool, using it a handful of times, and then discarding it. What used to cost thousands of dollars in labor can now be done in a single morning,” Valient explained.
Such rapid prototyping, he believes, will empower creators to experiment more boldly. Immers’ philosophy also embraces open standards. By favoring text‑based file formats, the engine can interoperate seamlessly with external tools such as Blender, Maya, or other generative pipelines.
“If the files are readable, the AI can parse and manipulate them. This openness breaks the isolation that many proprietary engines enforce, allowing a smoother exchange of assets across the ecosystem,” Brussee said. The broader industry conversation around AI in games is polarized.
Some pundits hype the notion of “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt. Immers’ founders temper such expectations, positioning AI as a powerful assistant rather than a replacement for human craftsmanship. “AI will make everyone better, but the core creative decisions remain human,” Valient emphasized. De Jong added that, like any tool, AI must be used responsibly; the onus is on developers to steer it toward positive outcomes.
Economic anxieties also swirl around the AI boom, with critics warning of a speculative bubble. Valient draws a parallel to the dot‑com era: while many startups vanished, the underlying internet persisted and flourished.
“AI isn’t disappearing. The market will sort out the weak players, but solid technology and great products will survive,” he argued.
Immers, for its part, has secured initial funding commitments but remains deliberately modest in its capital raise, wary of the complacency that excessive cash can breed. The company’s size reflects this philosophy: just the three founders and a handful of “helpers” are currently building the engine. De Jong notes that a massive team would not necessarily accelerate progress; instead, a focused, lean group can make deliberate architectural choices and iterate efficiently.
Balancing resources against a limited window of opportunity—driven by AI’s rapid maturation—is a strategic challenge the founders are actively managing. On the development front, Immers is racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow. The goal is to release this demo within the month, a timeline that has already outpaced their original end‑of‑year estimate by a factor of two. Brussee admits that predicting exact milestones is difficult, but the early speed gains are encouraging.
Regarding monetization, Immers admires Epic Games’ “we succeed when you succeed” model but admits it is too early to lock in a definitive approach. The team remains focused on delivering a robust, flexible engine first, trusting that a fair revenue‑share structure will emerge naturally. Ultimately, the founders hope Immers will catalyze a new wave of creativity and risk‑taking in games. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expressions,” Brussee said.
“If our technology can help studios push the envelope, that would be amazing.”