KOTOR Remake Finds Its Studio as KOTOR II Remake "Juliet" Steps Out of the Shadows

After years of silence, rumors, and corporate reshuffles, the long-suffering remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic finally has a name attached to it. Court documents and reporting from journalist Stephen Totilo confirm that the current developer of the KOTOR Remake is Mad Head Games, a Serbian studio best known for the action RPG Pagan Online and the sci-fi adventure Scars Above. Buried in the same legal material is another bombshell for fans: Disney and Lucasfilm Games had, as recently as March 2025, a full remake of KOTOR II: The Sith Lords on their roadmap, complete with the infamous cut content that fans have been patching back in for almost two decades.

For a community that has gone from wild hype to deep skepticism over the course of this project, this is the clearest picture yet of what is actually happening behind the scenes. We now know who is rebuilding the first game, we know that a KOTOR II remake codenamed "Juliet" has existed in internal planning, and we know all of this not from vague insiders but from sworn legal testimony. What we still do not know is whether either remake will actually make it to the finish line.

Mad Head Games Takes Over a Legendary Name

Mad Head Games is hardly a household name on the level of BioWare or Obsidian, and that alone has sparked a wave of hot takes. Reactions online range from wary jokes about a "random Serbian studio" touching a classic, to cautious optimism from players who simply want someone, anyone, to finally ship this game. It is a fair mix of anxiety and hope: KOTOR is one of the most beloved RPGs ever made, and whoever touches it is stepping into a minefield of expectations.

The studio itself has spent the last decade working in the AA space. Pagan Online tried to mash up Diablo-style action with MOBA sensibilities but ultimately failed to find a stable audience. Scars Above fared better, offering a compact, atmospheric sci-fi adventure that punched above its budget, even if it never fully escaped its rough edges. Today, Mad Head operates as a subsidiary of Saber Interactive, after Saber separated from the Embracer Group. Saber had already been linked to the KOTOR Remake after Aspyr was removed from the project; now it appears Saber is overseeing things while Mad Head is actually building the game.

A Development Saga Marked by Delays and Studio Swaps

The KOTOR Remake’s story is almost as twisted as Revan’s canon. The first whispers surfaced back in January 2020, before the world was consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, Sony rolled out a teaser during its PlayStation Showcase, trumpeting a ground-up remake for PC and PlayStation 5. At that time, Aspyr Media was in charge, positioned as the trusted caretaker thanks to its earlier work porting classic Star Wars titles.

Behind the scenes, things were far less rosy. By mid-2022, reports emerged that an internal demo shown to Sony and Lucasfilm had gone badly. Key developers were let go, and the project was abruptly paused. Not long after, word leaked that Aspyr was no longer leading the remake and that work had been shifted to Saber Interactive. The teaser trailer quietly disappeared from official channels, updates dried up, and fans braced for yet another beloved franchise to vanish into development hell. The confirmation that Mad Head Games is now steering the remake finally brings that murky period into focus.

KOTOR II Remake "Juliet" and the Promise of Restored Content

The other revelation lurking in the court filings is arguably even more tantalizing for lore-obsessed fans. According to the deposition of Douglas Reilly, longtime vice president of Lucasfilm Games, Disney and Lucasfilm had a full remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords on their internal roadmap as recently as March 2025. The project is codenamed "Juliet" and was described as a modern remake that would finally integrate the cut content that shipped unfinished back in 2004.

For years, that missing material has been salvaged and restored by the fan-made TSL Restored Content Mod, transforming KOTOR II from a brilliant but broken experience into something far closer to Obsidian’s original vision. A proper, official remake that bakes in those storylines, endings, and character moments would effectively canonize what has so far lived in the world of mods. The catch is that the deposition only tells us Juliet was still "technically on the roadmap" in March; no one is willing to say what shape the project is in now, or whether it survives the latest reshuffling of priorities inside Disney’s games division.

Why These Games Still Matter

It is easy to forget, amid the corporate drama, why KOTOR commands this level of scrutiny in the first place. The original 2003 game, developed by BioWare, is regularly ranked among the greatest RPGs ever made. Its iconic twist, its party-driven storytelling, and its ability to make players feel like they were truly charting their own path through the Old Republic still resonate today. At the same time, its turn-based, D20-inspired combat and early-2000s animation are undeniably dated for modern audiences.

A successful remake has to walk a tightrope: modernize the combat and presentation enough to feel fresh, without flattening the depth of the original systems or turning Revan’s journey into a generic action spectacle. Comparisons to the Final Fantasy VII Remake are inevitable. That project reimagined rather than simply updated, expanding characters and story beats while changing how the game actually plays. If Mad Head and Saber are aiming for something similar, the potential upside is huge but so is the risk of alienating purists.

KOTOR II sits in a slightly different place in fans’ hearts. Obsidian’s 2004 sequel is darker, more philosophical, and famously unfinished, with its most ambitious ideas hamstrung by deadlines. A Juliet remake that stitches the cut content into a polished whole could finally give the Exile’s story the pacing and closure it has always deserved.

From Aspyr’s Missteps to Mad Head’s Big Test

The choice of developer is inevitably being judged against recent history. Aspyr’s own track record with remasters has been uneven, and some players still wince at how certain classics, like Deus Ex, were handled in past projects. That has led to a strange split reaction: on one hand, skepticism that a mid-sized Serbian studio is ready to tackle one of the most beloved RPGs of all time; on the other, genuine relief that the remake is no longer in Aspyr’s hands.

In community discussions, you will see the whole spectrum: people joking that "slop is incoming" the moment they hear "Serbian studio", others cautiously cheering that at least the project has landed somewhere and that Saber and Mad Head might surprise everyone. There are even side debates about how Nightdive Studios should be the one remaking the original Deus Ex instead, while Mad Head focuses on KOTOR. Underneath the memes and trolling sits a simple truth: fans care enough about these games to be both fiercely protective and quietly hopeful at the same time.

Rumors, Game Awards Speculation, and What Comes Next

Layered on top of the hard facts from court documents are the inevitable rumors. Well-known leaker Kurakasis has hinted that a major Star Wars game with a title ending in "The Old Republic" is due to be announced soon, with many observers eyeing The Game Awards 2025 as the perfect stage. That could point to the KOTOR Remake, a separate Old Republic project, or something completely unexpected. Until anything is shown, it remains exactly what it sounds like: educated guessing dressed up as insider talk.

What we do know is more modest but more concrete. As of early 2025, KOTOR I’s remake was still in active development under Mad Head Games and Saber Interactive. As of that same moment, a full KOTOR II remake with restored content was still on Disney and Lucasfilm Games’ internal roadmap. Since then, no one is willing to officially commit to timelines, platforms beyond the already announced PC and PS5 window, or even a firm confirmation that Juliet is moving forward.

Cautious Hope in a Galaxy of Uncertainty

If you are a KOTOR fan, this latest round of revelations is both encouraging and deeply frustrating. Encouraging, because the remake is not dead, and because the people in charge are at least acknowledging the importance of KOTOR II’s missing pieces. Frustrating, because the fate of both projects still feels precarious, hanging on shifting corporate strategies, legal headaches, and the brutal realities of modern AAA (or AA-plus) development.

For now, the best-case scenario looks like this: Mad Head Games quietly does the work, delivers a KOTOR remake that respects the original’s soul while updating its body, and the success of that project gives Disney the confidence to greenlight Juliet in full. Until we see actual gameplay, though, the Old Republic will remain in that familiar state for fans: endlessly debated, endlessly datamined, and, for the moment, still just out of reach.