Netflix's PUBG Series Lands Donald Glover, Who Hopefully Brings a Pan

Netflix is making a live-action PUBG series, and Donald Glover is running the whole show. Krafton announced on October 29 that Glover will write, direct, executive produce and star in the series (Gematsu). What's on Netflix calls it the biggest video game name the streamer has picked up so far (What's on Netflix).

His brother Stephen Glover is also on board as a writer and executive producer. The two have worked together for years, and Stephen co-created and wrote for Atlanta (What's on Netflix).

Who else is making the PUBG series?

The other executive producers are Michael Schaefer for NEON TV, Fam Udeorji for Gilga, and Taeseok Jang and Sujin Lee for LV3H. LV3H is Krafton's entertainment company, and it's helping develop and produce the show (Gematsu).

Krafton hasn't shared a plot, any other cast members or a release window yet. What's on Netflix doesn't expect the series to arrive before 2028, so this one is still very early.

What is PUBG, for anyone who missed it?

PUBG: Battlegrounds came out in 2017, and it helped turn the 100-player battle royale into the format that Fortnite, Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone all followed (What's on Netflix). You drop onto an island, scramble for gear and try to be the last one standing while the safe zone keeps shrinking around you.

Krafton calls PUBG its best-selling game, and it says the franchise holds seven Guinness World Records (Krafton press release). The game went free to play in 2022, and it still has a big player base today (and yes, the frying pan still blocks bullets).

Didn't PUBG already have a Netflix show in the works?

Kind of. Back in July 2021, Krafton announced an animated PUBG series with Adi Shankar, the producer behind Castlevania. That project has gone quiet since then, and this week's announcement doesn't mention it at all (What's on Netflix).

Netflix has also had a mixed run with live-action game shows. Its Resident Evil series was canceled after one season in 2022, while animated shows like Arcane and Castlevania became huge hits.

My read is that Glover is a genuinely exciting pick for this. He's funny, he's weird in the best way, and Atlanta proved he can make a show that feels like nothing else on TV. A battle royale doesn't come with much of a story, which gives him plenty of room to build something new. Now we just need to know who gets the first chicken dinner (my money is on whoever skips Pochinki).

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Images are official PUBG: Battlegrounds screenshots from Steam, from Krafton.