Katana ZERO has been Refused Classification in Australia
Those hoping to pick up Katana Zero tomorrow will be disappointed. The game has been refused classification in Australia, most likely due to the games drug usage.
In the game the main character is an assassin who uses Chronos, a drug that allows you manipulate time, using drugs in games toward a positive effect are usually frowned upon by the Australian Classification Board.
Devolver Digital who is publishing the game let everyone know via Twitter this morning. They are hoping to resubmit the game and get it through. We’ll let you know if that happens.
Update: It looks like Devolver will try and get it rated outside the IARC system and that’ll hopefully get it over the line.
It was originally submitted through IARC, we will now submit back through the individual boards.
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) April 17, 2019
To be fair, if they called it medicine to realign people back with normal time, it could’ve passed.
One of the key disadvantages of IARC is its tendency to rate games too harshly or too leniently as there are no eyes assessing the content.
Phoenix Wright 4 received a peer-reviewed (and legally binding) PG rating by the board prior to IARC, but a post-IARC rating came back with an absurd MA15+ (probably owing to the oddly strict M17+ rating awarded in the U.S. when all other games in the series were rated T).
Similarly, Wonder Boy received an M for Mature themes, but when it was classified for its later physical release (as physical releases must be subject to a paid peer-reviewed classification), it was rated G for Very mild fantasy violence. Strangely, Nintendo have not updated the eShop page to reflect this, and likewise, the game may require a patch to remove the parental lock so that it can be recognised as a G rated game.
Any eShop games with consumer advice where every word is capitalised are automated IARC rated and so these classifications should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s a flawed system, but we would miss out on the majority of eShop exclusives without it.