Mesa, October 14 — The story begins with a spark at a summer camp in the Arizona desert. An interdisciplinary team of Arizona State University alumni and one current student released their all-ages video game, Stella Astrum, on the Steam platform in September 2024. The game emerged from a rapid 31-day development sprint that ran from August 1 to August 31 of that year.
It was born not in a corporate studio but from connections made at the Xbox Game Camp held in May 2024 by the Endless Game and Learning Lab at the Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in Mesa, Arizona. Orlando McBride, a Mesa resident who graduated from ASU in 2017 with a degree in computer science, initiated the collaboration after his team and another team won prizes at the camp.
He proposed combining efforts, founding Death Knight Studios after years in the corporate world and serving as the team’s lead. William Gittings, who earned a degree from the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering — now The GAME School — in 2024, joined the effort. Brett Page, a graduate of the School of Music, Dance, and Theatre in 2025, contributed his sound expertise.
Shannon Langefels, who earned a degree from The GAME School in May 2024 and is a video game artist based in Chandler, Arizona, handled visual development while balancing an internship during part of the period. Alfaroqomar Alaa Aldeen, currently pursuing a master’s degree in computer science at ASU, provided programming support.
Mesa resident Baylee Balsimo Ketelhut, a video artist and engineer, also contributed to the team. What unfolded was a remote collaboration powered by Discord, with the team checking in midway through development at a demo night hosted by the International Game Developers Association to showcase progress. At its heart, Stella Astrum is a factory-style game where players build and manage their own galaxy by creating stars and planets in a colorful space environment.
Langefels noted the intensity of the timeline, describing late nights and the challenge of managing responsibilities alongside her internship. She emphasized that video game development requires art, sound, programming, production, and marketing working together — skills she said were honed through ASU group projects that prepared her for interdisciplinary collaboration. For those involved, the release on Steam in September 2024 marked the culmination of a fast-paced, creatively charged effort.
The game remains available for play on the platform. Looking ahead, the team’s next steps are not detailed in the source, but their success highlights how rapid, remote development can yield polished results when rooted in shared experience and complementary skills.
The story ends here — not with speculation, but with the quiet pride of a team that built a universe in a month and launched it into the world.
