Ubisoft Montreal Hostage Situation Was A Hoax

Warning: This article contains mentions of swatting, shooting deaths, hostage situations, and police violence.

On Friday November 13, 2020, Canadian news outlet Journal de Montreal reported that a call had been placed from within Ubisoft’s Montreal offices to local police. The offices, located at the corner of St-Laurent Boulevard and St-Viateur Street, reported an alleged hostage situation.

Following the call, the area surrounding the building was cordoned off. Approximately an hour after the police operation commenced, specialized tactical officers from the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM) arrived on site to “inspect the premises.” Some of these officers, according to CBC coverage, arrived “heavily armed.”

Helicopter footage was captured by TVA Nouvelles, a Canadian French-language TV news outlet. Said footage showed Ubisoft employees on the roof of the building, having barricaded the door leading to this rooftop terrace. Other individuals, Journal de Montreal additionally reported, had barricaded themselves into meeting rooms.

SPVM stated on Twitter that no injuries had been reported from the initial inspections. Elsewhere, other social media accounts took notice. Notably, Eric Pope, a Ubisoft senior community developer, marked himself as safe but stated in a now-deleted tweet that he had been on a call with several coworkers when they had to leave abruptly. Subsequently, he identified “his people” in the aerial photographs of the roof.

Following the arrival of officers and an evacuation of the building, CBC reported, the police detected no threat and later deemed the initial 911 call to be a hoax. The more precise origin, details, or motivation behind the hoax remain unclear. However, this unfolding of events is perhaps an example of a phenomenon known colloquially as “swatting.” Taking its name from SWAT units in the United States, this refers to placing a false call to police. It is often framed as informing them of a hostage situation or a similar form of violence underway.

False 911 calls are illegal in Canada. It typically leads to at least a charge of public mischief contrary to 140(1)(c) of the Canadian Criminal Code. This section reads as follows: “Every one commits public mischief who, with intent to mislead, causes a peace officer to enter on or continue an investigation by […] reporting that an offence has been committed when it has not been committed.”

Nonetheless, the phenomenon remains on the proverbial radar and motivations may fall anywhere between a spiteful prank and a deliberate act of revenge. Equally, though the call may have seemed to originate from within Ubisoft’s Montreal office building, that could be misleading. Previous “swatters” have used spoofing technology to make the call seem to come from somewhere other than the location at which it was placed.

Significantly, a previous instance of this phenomenon resulted in responding police opening lethal fire on an individual present at the swatted location — namely Andrew Finch in December 2017 — and others. Although it did not result in injury or death, it has caused significant disruption and upset to the swatted targets.

Though we are relieved to know that no one at the Ubisoft Montreal site was injured physically, the staff on site — and watching from elsewhere — may be experiencing significant and lasting psychological distress from the incident. Indeed, Ubisoft Montreal managing director Christophe Derennes expressed his relief at the resolution. However, he also maintained that psychological services would be offered to employees in the aftermath.