Katana Zero is due out worldwide in less than two days and the Switch release has just been banned in Australia and New Zealand. The indie game's publisher Devolver Digital revealed this over on its official Twitter account earlier today.

"Heads up to folks in Australia / New Zealand - Katana ZERO has a ‘Classification Refused’ rating and therefore will not be released on Switch in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday."

According to Kotaku's Australian Editor, Alex Walker, the game has been refused classification through an automated IARC process but was not actually rejected by a human or Classification Board panel. Devolver Digital intends to re-submit the game, in the hope it won't happen a second time around.

While the PC version is likely to remain available on Steam, Switch owners will have to wait until after Easter to find out if this title will or won't be made available locally. The game contains violence, gore and drug use.

This isn't the first time Devolver Digital has had classification troubles in this particular region. One of its most prominent 2D indie titles – Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number – never got released locally due to its depiction of sexual violence. It led to the game's creator telling fans within this region to "just pirate it".

For readers who don't happen to live in Australia or New Zealand, Katana Zero is due out this week on the eShop.