A hoax call lead police to respond to a seeming hostage crisis in Ubisoft Montreal. Police evacuated the building and no one has been harmed.
Police were alerted to a threat in the Ubisoft building, believed to be a hostage scenario. Here’s the situation, as described by the Saint-Laurent police department:
This Friday afternoon, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) deployed a large number of resources to answer a call for a hostage situation in a Saint-Laurent Boulevard office building. The perimeter was quickly secured and the SPVM confirms that no threat has been detected and no injuries are reported.
Footage made local news of Ubisoft staff on the roof of the building, until police made everyone evacuate. Evacuees had their statements taken, and social workers were also there to provide support.
Ubisoft Montreal has thanked the SVPM for their swift response, as well as making sure everyone got out safely.
— Ubisoft Montréal (@UbisoftMTL) November 14, 2020
A Ubisoft spokesperson told GameSpot the following:
“Following the reports of an incident in the studio earlier today, November 13, we are relieved to confirm that all of our team members in Ubisoft Montreal are safe and have been evacuated from the premises. We commend the strength and solidarity of all of our team members in this complex and stressful situation. We are grateful for the prompt response of the police and local authorities. We will continue to provide our teams with all the necessary support to cope with this traumatic event.”
While many of Ubisoft Montreal’s employees are working from home, some are still working at the offices.
According to Eric Pope, community developer on Hyper Scape, he was in a video call with some of the staff at the office who suddenly had to “leave abruptly”.
While it’s a a shame that this whole incident occurred at all, it’s good to know that no one was harmed and that there was no actual crisis.