Arcadia is Microsoft’s newest project to stream apps and games to Windows

Arcadia City from Halo

Microsoft is reportedly working to bring a new streaming apps and games service to Windows. According to a new report from ZDNet, the software giant is creating a service codenamed “Arcadia”, a new technology that will allow Windows users to stream games and (certain) apps on their devices (PC, tablet, and phone) from the cloud.

Arcadia is being developed under the company’s Operating Systems Group and is powered by Microsoft’s Azure cloud technology. Arcadia, a reference to a planet in the Halo game, surfaced in a Microsoft job posting, even though the posting was unclear, another listing without the Arcadia reference does mention the “Operating Systems Group (OSG) Streaming team.”

Back in September 2013, the software giant showed off a similar technology to stream games with a project codenamed “Rio”. The Microsoft’s demo highlighted a Halo 4 game stored in the cloud while being played on a Windows Phone, and according to Mary Jo Foley, from ZDNet, Arcadia is the replacement for Rio.

The report also claims that Microsoft has considered the new streaming service as a way to bring Android apps and games to Windows. This is not new, the company has been talking about the idea of letting Android apps to run on Windows, but the new plan of using Arcadia to stream Android apps has been postponed.

Though the job posting does mention that the company is looking for Senior Software Engineers with experience on iOS and Android, which it could mean that Arcadia will also work on other platforms or it could also mean that Microsoft is looking to bring apps from other platforms into Windows. 

While Microsoft’s job posting hints the company toying with a new streaming technology, we’ll still have to wait if this service ever become mainstream.

Source ZDNet

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.