Donald Glover to Write, Direct and Star in PUBG Netflix Series

Donald Glover is taking on one of gaming’s most recognizable battle royales: a live-action PUBG Netflix series that he will write, direct, produce and star in. The project was reported on October 29, 2026 by Deadline and IGN, and it marks a major step in Krafton’s long-stated push to turn its franchise into original entertainment.

Who is behind the PUBG Netflix series

Glover, an Emmy winner for acting and directing on Atlanta, is writing the adaptation with his brother Stephen Glover, who is also an executive producer. The pair worked together on Atlanta, where both wrote and executive produced. Other executive producers are Michael Schaefer for Neon, Fam Udeorji for Gilga, and Taeseok Jang and Sujin Lee for LV3H, Krafton’s entertainment arm. LV3H is also helping develop and produce the show.

Deadline reports that the deal came together after lengthy negotiations. Glover is free to work with Netflix because his Amazon MGM Studios agreement, signed in 2021 when he left FX, has since been renewed as a first-look deal rather than an exclusive one. He remains an executive producer on Amazon’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

A game with more story than you might expect

PUBG, originally titled PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, debuted in 2017 and has set seven Guinness World Records. It began as a pure multiplayer experience, which raises the obvious question of what a scripted series would actually be about. IGN points to the lore on the game’s official site. In it, a billionaire named Sergei Kalimnik survives a deadly Soviet attack on the fictional island of Erangel in 1965. He later buys the island and stages forced battles among 100 conscripted people. The backstory also links to a centuries-old tradition called “Magna Venari: The Great Hunt.”

IGN’s writer likens the premise to Squid Game, with shadowy elites watching from a distance. That comparison is the outlet’s own reading, and neither report says how closely Glover’s version will follow the game’s canon.

Netflix’s growing game slate

The PUBG Netflix series joins a crowded pipeline of game adaptations at the streamer. Deadline lists a live-action Assassin’s Creed series, a live-action Gears of War film, animated adaptations of Minecraft, Magic: The Gathering and Clash of Clans, and an Overcooked competition series. Netflix had also previously been developing an animated PUBG series from Castlevania executive producer Adi Shankar, announced in 2021. Krafton first announced plans for a PUBG movie and TV series back in 2020.

Neon’s involvement is notable too. The studio has won two Best Picture Oscars, for Parasite and Anora, and its presence suggests an auteur-minded approach rather than a standard franchise play. Deadline’s note that Schaefer joined Neon following Department M’s stake acquisition gives some context for the studio’s expanding ambitions.

IGN also notes that Glover is not the only celebrity attached to a game adaptation right now. Michael B. Jordan and Christopher McQuarrie are reportedly shopping a Battlefield film to studios, with Sony said to be a frontrunner.

What we still don’t know

The reports leave major questions open. There is no release date, episode count, additional cast or production timeline, and Deadline describes the series as “in works” at Netflix. For now, the headline is the creative lineup: a single filmmaker handling writing, directing and starring duties on a PUBG Netflix series, backed by the game’s owner and one of the most celebrated independent studios in film.

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File photo: Donald Glover TIFF 2015.jpg by Bill Ingalls, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.