All images copyright their respective owners. All images on this site were taken by and all videos were contributed to by James Houlahan.

As a life-long gamer well versed in both tabletop and video games, it didn't take long for James to leave the mortgage industry and jump headlong into the video game industry when the opportunity presented itself. 

After being hired as a QA tester by Lucasarts, he quickly moved to the "Online Team" which handled all QA and Production requests for Star Wars: Galaxies, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. His time at Lucasarts was a rich experience due to being promoted to Assistant Lead for the majority of his time there, as well as the large quantity of non-QA tasks assigned to his team. 

This mainly consisted of Production tasks including: writing specialized guides for VIPs and Prima, answering interview questions for popular gaming websites, writing and design work for SWG: Trading Card Game expansions, generating video capture assets for Star Wars: Galaxies web and print marketing materials, representing Lucasarts at trade shows such as San Diego Comic-Con and the Star Wars: Galaxies Community Summits, and providing design feedback to both SOE and Bioware. One of his most proud moments at Lucas was when the Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, and Jedi classes were redesigned using all of his feedback as guidelines. 

After leaving Lucasarts, James joined Trion Worlds, where he worked briefly on the QA team for Rift, then quickly joined the Creative Services department as a Video Capture Artist. Here he enjoyed working on all of Trion's titles, generating art assets for Rift, End of Nations, and Defiance. 

James then moved to DeNA West, where he acted as a QA Lead on multiple titles, as many as five at once, relying heavily on his experience with live operations from Lucasarts and Trion, learning to adjust to the much more fast-paced update schedule of mobile gaming. Additionally, he was able to provide excellent feedback to production teams on free-to-play monetization strategies, and participated in the planning of dozens of live events for the multi-million dollar mobile games Transformers: Legends and Transformers: Age of Extinction. 

 After his time at DeNA West, James took on the role of QA Manager at Beyond Games, marking his first experience in a startup environment. At Beyond, he was instrumental in building the QA department, establishing all standards, best practices, and databases to ensure high-quality testing and operational efficiency. Working on Battle Strike Force, a mobile game collaboration with Sylvester Stallone, James not only managed the QA process but also worked closely with designers and art directors. This close collaboration provided invaluable insights into character design, art direction, and the creative process, further solidifying his transition from QA to game design. His contributions and dedication led to being hired at the company leadership’s next venture, marking a pivotal step in his career.

At Laguna Games, James joined a collaborative design team where he expanded his expertise in system design, narrative development, and emerging technologies like blockchain and tokenized assets. As Gameplay Designer on Crypto Unicorns, he played a key role in crafting the whimsical IP, designing Unicorn Classes with distinct gameplay focuses, personalities, and lore that contributed to the game's success and $25 million in Unicorn Egg presales. Additionally, this was precipitated by James designing the combat system for an unannounced Crypto 4X title, which was instrumental in securing Crypto Unicorns’ initial $5 million in venture capital funding. His work on Crypto Unicorns and other game modes, such as Unigotchi and Unicorn Jousting, highlights his ability to integrate engaging gameplay systems with creative narratives.