Update: Yesterday afternoon, police were called to Montreal’s Mile-End Neighborhood near Ubisoft Montreal. At the time, the police investigation on Friday afternoon dealt with a potential hostage situation. Since then, Montreal Police have stated that no threat was identified at the studio; however, the police are still actively investigating. Could this have been a hoax similar to other swatting issues or a distraction?
The tweet below has been from the SPVM.
No threat has been identified for now. We are currently evacuating the building. #SPVM https://t.co/7g7eHU2B1T
— Police Montréal (@SPVM) November 13, 2020
11/13
News broke earlier today that police have been called to Ubisoft Montreal’s headquarters. According to sources at the scene, there is an ongoing hostage situation at Ubisoft Montreal; at the moment, little information has been revealed due to the ongoing situation. First spotted on Post Millennial, police arrived at Ubisoft Montreal’s office on Friday the 13th. According to reports, there are dozens of workers currently held hostage on the premises. A tweet by Yara El Soueidi, a writer for Cult MTL, stated that Ubisoft employees are having to hide under their desks for safety.
Eric Pope, the Senior Community Developer for Hyper Scape, stated that his call with the studio was interrupted abruptly. In a tweet, MRPope said, ” Was on a call with the folks ‘Ubisoft Montreal team’ at the office when they had to leave abruptly.
https://twitter.com/MrPope/status/1327323646923321345?s=20
In a statement made to La Presse, a Montreal police spokesperson stated, “We received a call for a robbery in a commercial space. For the moment, we are at the stage of verifications”. La Presse has also reported multiple heavily armed police forces equipped with bulletproof shields are on the scene.
A news chopper on the scene has shown that multiple Ubisoft employees have currently evacuated to the roof. Paramedics are standing by prepared to act in case the situation worsens.
Ubisoft Montreal: Keeping You Up To Date
As the situation unfolds, we will keep you up-to-date. Mr. Pope has shared a link to live coverage of the ongoing situation. Could the Ubisoft Hostage situation be due to backlash over Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Watch Dogs Legion? Just this year alone, we have seen multiple developers and voice actors receive threats for their work. We do not condone acts of terrorism or violence.
Some Ubisoft employees have been evacuated out of the side building but others are still trapped; Ubisoft employee @Valskuiken has stated that they were amongst the few employees who were evacuated safely. The situation is still underway.
https://twitter.com/MrPope/status/1327331318594760707?s=20
We will update when more information becomes known.
Update: To Reflect Update from the Police
Source: Post Millenial and La Presse.
