The Tilt Brush app allows users wearing for VR headsets to "paint" sculptures in three-dimensional space.
After the app's 2016 launch, a community of artists sprang up around its unique feature set.
Google has now announced it is discontinuing work on the app - but making the code publicly available.
Google is effectively letting anyone with the knowledge make their own version of the app - a rare move for the company.
There are online catalogues of the "Google graveyard" of projects it has shut down.