Donald Glover and Netflix developing a live-action PUBG series

By Elena Vasquez

Netflix is developing a live-action PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) series with Donald Glover attached to star, nearly 10 years after Krafton released the game in 2017. Donald and his brother Stephen Glover will write and executive produce. Donald also plans to direct.

What does Netflix’s PUBG project include?

Exact plot details for the potential show remain under wraps. The project has a producer slate spanning Neon TV, Gilga and LV3H.

• Michael Schaefer of Neon TV will serve as an executive producer.
• Fam Udeorji will executive produce for Gilga.
• Taeseok Jang and Sujin Lee will executive produce for LV3H, Krafton’s entertainment division.

Donald’s planned directing role would place him at the center of the project, combining star, writer and director credits if it proceeds.

The producer team is defined, but the central story is not.

What does PUBG’s player scale mean for television?

• Krafton, PUBG’s publisher, released the game in 2017.
• The game broke multiple Guinness world records upon its initial release.
• It continues to pull in hundreds of thousands of active users daily.
• Nearly 10 years after release, PUBG remains one of the world’s most popular video games.

PUBG has no plot. Its format drops large numbers of players onto one of several maps, where weapons, vehicles and other items shape a last-man-standing deathmatch.

For television, the unresolved task is to turn that map-based survival contest into a continuing story without stripping away the rules that make the game work.

A large audience is already in place; the television story is not.

What experience do the Glovers bring?

Their most famous shared credit is the hit FX series Atlanta. Donald created and starred in the series. Stephen served as a writer and executive producer throughout its four-season run.

After Atlanta, they teamed on Amazon’s Swarm and the musical film Guava Island. Stephen also wrote for Donald’s Amazon series Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Donald’s other television credits include Community and 30 Rock. His film credits include The Martian, Spider-Man Homecoming, Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

• The Team and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole represent Donald.
• WME and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis represent Stephen.

The Glovers offer an established partnership; Netflix has not disclosed the PUBG story.

How does PUBG fit Netflix’s game slate?

If PUBG proceeds, it would be Netflix’s latest video game adaptation to find a home there. Netflix’s related projects include:

• An Assassin’s Creed television series in development.
• A live-action Gears of War film in development.
• Animated series based on Clash of Clans and Minecraft in development.
• Splinter Cell: Deathwatch and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners currently airing on Netflix.

Together, these titles place PUBG within a game-to-screen slate spanning scripted series, film and animation. Netflix is already adapting games across formats; PUBG would extend that slate if the project moves into production.