two russian filmmakers, liliya tkach and nikita ordynskiy of kinodom productions, developed an 11-minute live-action film based on "papers, please", entitled "papers, please: the short film", starring igor savochkin as the passport inspector. the film was authorized by lucas pope after ordynskiy sent him the screenplay via email. the film premiered at the trekhgorka house of culture in moscow, russia, on january 27, 2018. the film debuted worldwide via youtube and the steam storefront on february 24, 2018. the film received "overwhelmingly positive" reviews on steam upon its release. the short film's success led tkach and ordynskiy to pursue a similar short film for "beholder", another game set in a totalitarian state. ordynskiy would later voice seaman aleksei toporov in "return of the obra dinn", a 2018 video game developed by pope, which was also a seumas mcnally grand prize winner.