Arcadia is Microsoft’s new streaming service for apps and games

Microsoft is reportedly building a cloud-based streaming service for games and apps, codenamed Arcadia. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley cites unnamed sources claiming that the service is being developed by Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group on the foundation of the company’s cloud-based operating system, Azure. Arcadia is said to replace “Rio”, another game-streaming platform being developed Microsoft which was demonstrated internally in September 2013.

As Microsoft officials themselves have said, as Windows moves forward, Microsoft is looking at services connected to the operating system to monetize it. Some of those services are available today, such as OneDrive, Xbox Live and Office 365. But there are more to come. And one of those is something codenamed “Arcadia.” Arcadia, according to my sources, is the technology being developed by a new streaming team in Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group. The Arcadia technology replaces the discontinued “Rio” game-streaming technology which Microsoft demonstrated at the company’s annual meeting in September 2013. Arcadia, which is being built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, according to sources, will stream not just games, but also certain apps.