Netflix is developing a live-action PUBG series, and Donald Glover will star in it. If you play PUBG Mobile, you probably already have a picture in your head of how the first episode opens. A plane flies over Erangel, someone picks a terrible place to drop, and half the squad spends the next five minutes looking for a decent gun.
The premise is easy enough to picture. What KRAFTON has actually announced about the PUBG Netflix series is a little more interesting, especially once you see who gets to tell that story.
Who’s Making the PUBG Netflix Series?
Glover has four jobs on the series. He’ll write, direct, executive produce, and act, so his involvement goes well beyond putting a familiar face on the poster. You might know him as Troy from Community or Earn from Atlanta. Which character he’ll play in PUBG is still under wraps. His brother Stephen Glover is also on board as a writer and executive producer.
KRAFTON has a hand in the production through its entertainment division, LV3H. The publisher named the team in its October 30 announcement, but it shared very little about what happens on screen. There’s no confirmed map, squad, or story yet.
That leaves open a pretty good question for anyone who’s played the game. Will the show follow the people who drop onto the island, or the people who put them there?
Does the PUBG Netflix Series Have a Release Date?
There’s no announced release date, filming schedule, or episode count. The series is still in development, and Netflix hasn’t released an official trailer. So if you’ve come across a video that promises a first look at Glover on Erangel, there’s no footage from the show to back that up yet.
You can watch an actual live-action PUBG story in the meantime. KRAFTON’s 2021 short film Ground Zero stars Don Lee and takes place in 1983 at Hosan Prison on Taego. It runs about nine minutes, and the choice of setting gives it a neat hook for players.
A prison you might know as a place to find loot becomes a place with a past. It’s a separate story, but it gives you a sense of how much a PUBG adaptation can do before anyone even boards the plane:
Is PUBG Mobile Getting a Netflix Crossover?
KRAFTON’s announcement covers a TV adaptation of the wider PUBG franchise. PUBG Mobile belongs to that franchise as the mobile version of PUBG: Battlegrounds, which explains the connection. For now, there’s no announced crossover mode, event skin, or login reward tied to Glover’s series. There’s nothing you need to download or claim in the game.
If the Netflix connection sounds familiar, you may be remembering Arcane. Back in November 2021, Riot partnered with PUBG Mobile for the show’s premiere. The game’s Mirror World mode let you visit a floating island and play as Jinx, Vi, Jayce, or Caitlyn.
That event had its own weapons, abilities, and patch notes. It’s a good example of what a TV crossover can look like when there’s something for players to jump into.
What Happened to the Animated PUBG Project?
There’s one more reason you might remember hearing about a PUBG show years ago. In July 2021, KRAFTON hired Castlevania producer Adi Shankar to develop an animated project set in the PUBG universe. The announcement about Glover’s live-action series gives no update on Shankar’s project, so its status remains unclear.
For PUBG Mobile players, the most interesting detail to watch for now is where the Netflix series takes place. A match on Erangel can turn a farmhouse into the most important building on the map for about thirty seconds. Ground Zero found a whole story inside one location. Once we know where Glover’s series drops us, we’ll have a much better idea of what kind of PUBG story we’re getting.
Before your next drop into Erangel, catch up on the latest game announcements at MMO Culture’s news page.
