Unity and Unreal have long held sway over the game‑development landscape, accounting for roughly 70% of Steam releases in 2025. While Godot has enjoyed a surge in popularity and some studios cling to proprietary solutions—Capcom’s RE Engine being a notable example—the duopoly of Unity and Unreal still dominates the market. Enter Immers, a fledgling studio founded by three seasoned veterans: Arjan Brussee, Sjoerd De Jong, and Michal Valient.
Their résumés read like a who’s‑who of the industry, featuring stints at Epic Games (the creators of Unreal), Guerrilla Games, Boss Key, and even Apple. The trio believes there is still room for a fresh engine that addresses the shortcomings of the current offerings. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Brussee argued that “the moment is ripe for a new engine that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.” He pointed to AI‑augmented programming as a catalyst that could let developers start from a clean slate again. “With the right guidance and control, you can build something that delivers full functionality quickly,” he said.
Valient, Immers’ chief technology officer, clarified that the AI they employ is not the typical “prompt‑to‑output” gimmick that dominates headlines. Instead, the AI is woven into the engine’s architecture to make it highly extensible.
“AI can reason over massive codebases and data sets,” he explained. “If we design the engine with that capability in mind, even solo developers or tiny teams can plug in custom systems—say, a bespoke particle system—without being limited to a handful of scripts.” This approach, he believes, will let creators extend the engine far faster than traditional pipelines permit.
The motivation behind Immers’ AI‑powered engine stems from the current state of the games market, which Brussee describes as “rough.” Development costs are soaring, and small studios struggle to survive. “We need new ways of working that cut expenses, shrink team sizes, and accelerate timelines,” he said. “Otherwise you risk your livelihood, your studio, everything.” De Jong, the chief product officer, observed that the engine space has become overly standardized and consolidated. While this has given developers a solid foundation, it also stifles innovation.
“The industry faces a slew of challenges, and simply repeating old methods won’t cut it,” he asserted. “We need innovation, not more standardisation.” One of De Jong’s criticisms of existing engines is their monolithic nature.
Developers must conform to proprietary file formats and rigid workflows. With AI, Immers aims to deliver an engine that bends to the user’s needs.
“Flexibility is key,” he said. “You should be able to swap components, append new features, modify existing tools, and craft interfaces that match your personal workflow. If I need a tool with specific shortcuts, features, and UI elements for my team, I can build it directly into the engine.” Valient also warned that AI, while powerful, can “go off the rails” if left unchecked.
Immers therefore emphasizes transparency and control. “When you use the engine, you always know what it’s doing and why,” he noted. “You can trace its actions, reproduce results, and build bespoke tools for niche tasks—like generating five characters with a particular trait in minutes rather than weeks.” This level of control, he believes, transforms previously expensive, bespoke pipelines into cheap, repeatable workflows.
The architecture of Immers is deliberately agnostic. It does not force a single workflow or approach on its users. “You decide how much AI you want to involve and where,” De Jong explained.
“Our job is to ensure the AI understands the context correctly, but the choice remains yours.” Interoperability is another pillar of the design. By embracing open standards and text‑based file formats, Immers can communicate seamlessly with tools like Blender, Maya, or any generative‑AI system.
“If a file is human‑readable, any program—or AI—can parse it,” Brussee said. “That means you can plug in existing pipelines without wrestling with proprietary lock‑ins.” The broader industry is buzzing with both excitement and skepticism about AI in game development. Some commentators on LinkedIn hype “click‑to‑game” engines that could conjure Grand Theft Auto‑scale experiences from a single prompt.
Immers’ team acknowledges that such a future might be possible, but they view AI primarily as a **tool**, not a replacement for human creativity. “AI makes everyone better,” Valient argued. “It’s disruptive, which is why it feels threatening now, but responsible use will elevate the medium.” Economic concerns also swirl around AI, with many fearing a bubble of over‑valued startups. Valient dismissed the panic, likening AI to the early internet: “The dot‑com bubble didn’t make the internet disappear; it filtered out the weak players while the strong ones survived.” Immers is focused on building a solid engine; AI merely accelerates their vision.
Funding remains modest. Immers has secured its “first commitments,” though the exact amount is undisclosed and described as “reasonable.” Brussee cautioned against excess capital, noting that too much money can breed complacency. “Startups need to stay scrappy,” he laughed. The company remains tiny—just the three founders plus a handful of helpers.
This lean structure is intentional. De Jong explained the trade‑off: “You can’t throw a million developers at an engine and expect miracles. You need a small, focused team to make deliberate decisions, yet you also need enough resources to seize the narrow window of opportunity presented by AI’s rise.” Immers is currently racing toward a proof‑of‑concept demo that showcases a generative‑AI‑driven editing workflow, slated for release later this month. The timeline has already outpaced their original projection; what they expected to take until year‑end is now arriving in half that time.
Regarding the business model, Brussee admires Epic’s “we succeed when you succeed” licensing philosophy but admits it’s too early to commit. The ultimate goal, he says, is to empower creators to push the art form forward, take risks, and innovate. “We love games and want to see more daring, artistic expression,” Brussee concluded. “If our technology helps bring that to life, that would be amazing."