Google rightly took the plaudits when it made its Nik Collection photo editing software available for free last year — removing the product’s $149 price tag, which was once as high as $500 — but unfortunately it looks like that move was a prelude to the end. That’s because the internet giant has now ceased support for the popular desktop services from now on, according to a note on its website that was first spotted by PetaPixel.

“The Nik Collection is free and compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 through 10.10; Windows Vista, 7, 8; and Adobe Photoshop through CC 2015. We have no plans to update the Collection or add new features over time,” the company wrote.

It’s unfortunate, but this is hardly the first time that a promising independent company has been bought by a larger one and eventually closed down.

Google acquired Nik Software way back in 2012, so in that respect the software has had a better run than others — cough cough Sunrise or Wunderlist, to name two acquisitions from Microsoft as examples — although Snapseed, Nik’s flagship mobile app, continues to live on and prosper under Google’s ownership.

The rest of the Nik software, which is focused on desktop photo editing, will still be available but, with Google no longer deploying resources, future updates to the Windows, Photoshop or Mac platforms may break it in future. As PetaPixel pointed out, Google may well move to open source the software to give loyalists some peace of mind. Those who are left, that is.