VN have that price tag because they cost a lot to translate for example this is Da Capo 3
Some of those also have popular VAs although it isn't as apparent unless you go digging for that info, for example Rikka in Da Capo 3 is voiced by Emi Nitta, VA of Honoka from Love Live!.
Translators cost money.
Voice actors cost money.
Sure, that's easy to understand.
But, shmup programmers, and the usually extensive list of musicians that compose the soundtracks, cost money as well.
And making hardware to test these games on arcade locations, for months, among other things, costs money as well.
And, while naturally not as extensive, they frequently employ voice actors as well. That costs money as well.
They have different costs, but both genres have costs associated with it.
People seem to minimize the amount of time, effort, and expense, needed to make a good shmup.
But, my point wasn't about the "high" price tag of Visual Novels.
My point was that people are apparently much more willing to pay 50€ for a Visual Novel, than a shmup.
There's a "prejudice", in a way, against the genre, in the sense that people minimize the amount of work, effort, and costs that go into making one.
These games aren't usually made by a couple of guys in a basement in a few weeks, and released into the wild.
Many of these games take years to make, between programming, and extensive play testing.
Kind of like when people see a pixel art game, like something INTI CREATES makes, and think it's "cheap", and effortless, and are unwilling to pay full price for it. No, it's not easy, nor cheap, and it takes a decent number of people to make one of their "faux" 8-bit games, and do proper, good looking, pixel art graphics.
Some have the belief that shmups are 30 minutes long, while a Visual Novel is something more lengthy. Maybe that helps explain why people place more value in VNs (although, I still think the good old "sex sells" applies here, especially when one takes a look at the way most VNs promote themselves; I look at one of the examples I linked to, NEKOPARA, who probably has more reviews alone than all shmups on Steam combined, and that's the idea I get).
Personally, I find the opposite. A Visual Novel, you "play" once, and frequently that's it. You may occasionally have branches, but the genre usually isn't replayable. It's one and done.
A shmup is the contrary, you are expected to replay these games countless times, and the gameplay has to support that. I get much more time out of a shmup, than a Visual Novel.
Obviously, different folks, different strokes.
All this rambling, but I basically meant: I wish people were as willing as they are to pay 30-40€ for a good shmup, or buy them at full price, or at release, like they are with other "niche" genres like Visual Novels.
Instead, the games struggle to sell even at 10€ each.
That's why many games in the genre are unavailable on PC, and why some publishers decided to stop releasing shmups on Steam.
People ask for new titles, but if they don't buy them, how can they seriously expect them to continue to be released on the platform?
CITY CONNECTION has started releasing a few classic shmups on Steam recently.
They launched at 8€ each, and these are great fun, and good ports.
See the number of reviews they have:
Then I see something like:
This has more reviews, in just a few days, than the last 2 CAVE ports combined.
I keep mentioning reviews, because it's an indicator of the sales each title has.
It's disappointing, really.
.
. Not to tell you what to do but perhaps observe or something and see if the mother doesn't return? Or if there are more abandoned kitten?
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