> vs. $10M to purchase goodwill that is only worth $1M.
The goodwill is worth far more than $1M because it affects Google's entire reputation.
They already have a reputation of shutting things down.
How many people will look at this, and start considering whether or not they should move off GCP?
How many people will not sign up for their next big new product because of things like this? Which will ironically be likely for that product failing and being shut down (like Stadia).
It's a vicious cycle, and Google is going to have a hard time breaking it.
But it could have been different. They could have got $10M in revenue, then most users would have moved to competing platforms, while still playing previously purchased games on Stadia. This could have left them with a choice between $1M/year running costs to keep the lights on vs. $10M to purchase goodwill that is only worth $1M.