Announcing Major Award Wins for Gorillaz Presents at the Webbys, Tribeca X and Cannes Lions

Gorillaz Presents has been awarded a Gold Lion in the Digital Craft Lions category at the 2023 Cannes Lions, alongside a recent Best Immersive win at the prestigious Tribeca X and the top prize for Best Performance 2023 and the People’s Voice Award at this year’s Webby Awards. The two groundbreaking immersive experiences were directed by Jamie Hewlett and Fx Goby and featured performances by the world’s most famous virtual band, Gorillaz, represented by Eleven Management. Gorillaz Presents was created by Nexus Studios' real-time animation and immersive specialist teams in partnership with Google’s AR team. The augmented reality experience was powered by Google’s ARCore Geospatial API.

When creating Gorillaz Presents, Nexus set out to revolutionise the concept of musical performances by transforming the streets of New York and London into stages for two groundbreaking immersive experiences. Google’s ARCore Geospatial API allowed the experience to be deployed world scale. Taking place in December 2022 in New York City’s Times Square and London’s Piccadilly Circus, fans were invited to gather together and witness Gorillaz play in real life – actually larger than life – with Murdoc, 2D, Noodle and Russel literally towering over them in the midst of two of the world’s most iconic skylines. The public response was off the charts. On-site, crowds danced and sang along to Gorillaz’s performance, and online, Gorillaz Presents amassed more than 3 million views on Gorillaz’s channels alone and reached nearly 20,000 downloads in the first week of its launch. 

In the 70th edition of the Cannes Lions, Gorillaz Presents was awarded one of only three Gold Lions, from the 618 entries received in the Digital Craft Lions category. Dedicated to celebrating technological artistry in all forms, including the best work created in the Metaverse, New Realities & Emerging Tech space. Announced last week, the 2023 Tribeca X Awards winners were revealed during the Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, in New York City. The awards recognise the achievements of companies and creators who share a mission to connect with consumers through the power of storytelling. Gorillaz Presents also won two awards at this year’s Webby Awards, in a new category, Metaverse, Immersive & Virtual. It was an honour to receive the top prize for Best Performance 2023 along with the People’s Voice Award.