Hentai game publisher changing franchise name, and the Switch 2 eShop might be the reason why

Game developer/publisher Pakotime has been flooding the Switch eShop for years with their various hentai-related games. If you search the company’s name on the Switch eShop, you’ll be hit with a deluge of hentai-related puzzle games. Pakotime has been gaming the eShop for years to make sure their titles appear front-and-center on most charts, but it seems like that might be changing on Switch 2.

Pakotime has taken to social media to announce that their “Hentai Girls” series is receiving a name change. Starting in July, all future entries in the franchise will be called “Kawaii Girls,” but Pakotime hasn’t explained why they’re making this move. A quick look at the Switch 2 eShop might explain why.

In their announcement about the name change, Pakotime told Switch 2 users to search the company’s name on the eShop in order to find their titles, rather than looking for “Hentai Girls.” Searching “Hentai Girls” on the Switch eShop brings up the series no problem, but finding the same games on Switch 2 proves quite difficult. Just like the company says, if you search “Pakotime” instead, their entire library pops up without issue.

It seems there’s another layer to all of this as well. Performing a “Hentai Girls” search on the Switch or Switch 2 eShop in the states shows the games as expected. The situation is very different in Japan, with the games not popping up on the Switch 2 eShop. Again, the entire franchise is there, but you have to search “Pakotime” to get them. This makes it look like Nintendo may have shadowbanned the word “Hentai” on the Japanese eShop, but that’s only speculation at this point.

If/when an explanation comes about for the name change, we’ll make sure to update our post.