Ubisoft ‘Hostage’ Situation Was a Fake Bomb Ransom Attempt

Yesterday evening, we reported on a rather alarming situation that was occurring at Ubisoft’s Montreal HQ. Although details were somewhat vague at the time, it seemed that some kind of hostage situation was happening at the office building with around (or at least) 30 staff members being held on the rooftop.

Well, following a new report via Polygon, the good news is that although the incident itself was very much real, nobody was apparently in any kind of actual danger. Put simply, it looks like Ubisoft just got swatted!

Edit – We have unconfirmed rumors that the incident may have been a fake bomb scare where an unidentified person attempted to get a $2m ‘ransom’ from Ubisoft! – Techspot

Ubisoft HQ Gets Swatted?

For those of you unfamiliar with what being ‘swatted’ is, in a nutshell, it’s when a fake report is made to the police that (usually) armed-person/s are in attendance of a building or premises with the intention to cause harm. With no such person/s yet being identified at the Ubisoft offices (under those remits) it does, therefore, seem more than likely that this was one of those ‘pranks’.

And we use the term ‘prank’ exceptionally loosely as not only is ‘swatting’ very much illegal, but in the past, it has led to incidents of people accidentally being hurt or killed.

With the updated and unconfirmed report of this being a potential fake ‘bomb’ scare in an attempt to get a ‘ransom’ out of Ubisoft, however, if this is true, the situation clearly takes a far more sinister tone!

Following the incident, Montreal police have issued the following statement:

“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 no threat has been detected and no injuries are reported.

The evacuees are being directed to a place where investigators will take their statements. A team of CIUSS social workers is also on hand to support them as needed.

An investigation will follow regarding the call behind this important police force deployment.“

What Do We Think?

With staff being photographed on the rooftop, the best conclusion we can draw is that this is the office’s official procedure should an event like this actually occur. If it was a bomb threat, for example, presumably the person who made it suggested that any attempt to leave the building would result in its detonation and, as such, the roof was likely deemed the safest location within those remits.

With it being confirmed as fake, however, while all very dramatic, the good news is that no ‘hostage’ or ‘bomb’ situation was actually present and, in so far as we can tell, no one has thankfully been hurt in the likely very scary situation for a lot of staff members and their families.

As for the person/s who false reported this, however… Well, let’s just say that the Montreal police are very keen to speak with them!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!