Flow Reveals Major EVM Upgrade, Google and Ubisoft as Partners

Flow , the Layer-1 home to NBA Top Shot , has upgraded its mainnet to EVM equivalency and announced that Google and Ubisoft are now node operators on the network.

According to the press release shared with Cryptonews, Flow collaborates with many crypto companies and non-crypto brands.

This includes Alchemy, Izumi, Moonpay, the NFL, the NBA, and Ticketmaster, and has now also welcomed Google and Ubisoft among its node operators.

It further stated that the Crescendo upgrade is now live on the Flow mainnet.

It enables Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) equivalency for seamless, multi-chain interoperability, which is expected to “power a wide variety of next-generation applications.”

Crescendo natively supports ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens, doubles storage efficiency, and reduces memory usage by 40%.

Additionally, Flow now features smart contracts in the programming language Cadence 1.0. It’s designed for managing digital assets, including crypto, on-chain art, and collectibles, the team remarked.

With all this said, the team claimed that the latest upgrade “drives forward network scalability, security, and decentralization while also establishing even sturdier foundations for developers and businesses to build and operate apps for everything from DeFi and NFTs to DePIN and payments.”

Roham Gharegozlou, co-founder and CEO of Dapper Labs , the team that developed Flow, commented that “it’s hard to overemphasize not only the hard work that went into engineering Crescendo but also the immense amount of utility that will result from it.”

According to Gharegozlou, this update has elevated Flow to a more composable interoperable network. It enables EVM builders to build simply and directly on the network, allowing assets to move seamlessly across Flow and other EVM-compatible ecosystems.

Flow Community Rewards and Dev World Tour

Besides Crescendo, the team announced the Flow Community Rewards program. It aims to help developers attract users by rewarding valuable participation across the network.

Users get rewards when engaging with applications, be it a trade, sale, or added liquidity. It’s “a chance for users to get something back in return.” the announcement said.

Rewards include exclusive offers, swag, giveaways, and partner-specific rewards, such as luxury merchandise, vacation getaways, digital collectibles, etc.

Developers who contribute new applications and protocols can also earn perks.

“The program encourages interactions that coordinate with mutual growth by matching rewards with common mainstream consumer behaviors,” the Flow team stated.

Additionally, with the introduction of both the Community Rewards and the Crescendo update, Flow “extends powerful capabilities” to Ethereum developers.

These include gasless and scripted transactions that reduce friction, creating smoother and more intuitive user interactions with apps.

“The cumulative effect of all these upgrades involving Crescendo and Cadence is a superior experience for builders and users alike,” Gharegozlou remarked. The Flow ecosystem is “poised to grow at an accelerated pace.”

Lastly, the team announced the Flow World Tour, including a series of virtual and onsite hackathons and events.

It begins this month and runs until the end of the year, with live and virtual events in major cities in South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and the USA.

Therefore, Flow called for developers to “build the next killer app” on the network.

Meanwhile, Flow is home to creators such as Genies, Cryptoys, Dapper Labs (NBA, NFL, Disney), Mattel (Barbie, Hot Wheels), LiveNation/Ticketmaster, and more.

Per the announcement, over 40 million people have used a product on Flow to date.