Guest: Julie Banta, Director of Engineering, Build & Release at Respawn Entertainment

Summary:
In this episode of Player Driven, Greg sits down with Julie Banta, Director of Engineering at Respawn, to explore the underappreciated world of build and release operations. From her unlikely start in finance and insurance to helping manage one of the world’s top live service games, Julie shares her unique journey, the role of real-time feedback in LiveOps, and how a great team culture can make or break success.

They discuss:

• What Build & Release actually does in a live service game like Apex Legends
• Navigating fast-turnaround bug fixes and cross-platform coordination
• How to connect your past experiences to break into the gaming industry
• Leadership, burnout, and the importance of a people-first team
• The need for diversity and inclusivity in both dev teams and the games themselves

Timestamps:

• 07:00 – From finance to EA: career pivots and transferable skills
• 16:00 – The pressure and complexity behind LiveOps launches
• 29:00 – Fast feedback loops and using Reddit as a QA tool
• 40:00 – How Julie leads her team with empathy and trust
• 46:00 – Women in gaming and why representation matters
• 54:00 – Advice for indie devs and those breaking into the industry

Links:

• Connect with Julie on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Respawn and Apex Legends
• More episodes at playerdriven.io/podcast