Netflix is taking PUBG from the digital battleground to live action, with Donald Glover attached to write, direct, executive-produce, and star in a new series based on Krafton’s hit shooter. The ambitious PUBG adaptation will also feature Glover’s brother and longtime collaborator Stephen Glover as a co-writer and executive producer.
The project is being developed with Krafton and its entertainment arm LV3H, alongside Michael Schaefer of NEON TV and Fam Udeorji of Gilga. Taeseok Jang and Sujin Lee are also executive producers for LV3H. Netflix and the producers have not announced a release date, production schedule, additional cast, or specific story details, making this an early-stage development project rather than a series ready to enter the drop zone.
On paper, PUBG presents a tricky adaptation challenge: its original appeal comes from player-driven matches in which as many as 100 combatants land, scavenge equipment, and fight to become the last survivor. Krafton’s own description of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS identifies it as the original battle royale, launched on PC in 2017 and later released on consoles. That format gives the series a recognizable survival framework, but Glover will need to supply the characters, politics, and human stakes that a multiplayer match leaves to the players.
Fortunately, the franchise has developed a more elaborate mythology beyond its game mechanics. The official PUBG Universe traces the Battlegrounds to Sergei Kalimnick, a survivor of a 1965 Soviet attack on Erangel who later turns childhood trauma into a deadly spectacle. The lore also connects the games’ arenas to Magna Venari, an older tradition built around hunting human prey. That material could let the series become a conspiracy thriller or dystopian drama rather than simply a string of firefights.
Glover’s involvement makes the announcement particularly intriguing. His work on Atlanta, Community, Swarm, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith has ranged from sharp comedy to surreal psychological drama and action. Stephen Glover was a writer and executive producer on Atlanta, and the brothers have collaborated across several projects. Their reunion suggests Netflix may be pursuing a character-focused interpretation instead of a straightforward military spectacle.
The series also arrives during an aggressive expansion of video-game adaptations. Netflix is building a slate that includes projects connected to properties such as Assassin’s Creed, Gears of War, Devil May Cry, and Splinter Cell. For Krafton, meanwhile, the show advances a stated push to turn PUBG into a broader entertainment universe. Until Netflix reveals whether Glover’s version follows familiar Battlegrounds lore or invents a new entry point, the central question is not whether the game can support a story—it is how strange and ambitious that story will be.
