Friday the 13th isn’t known for being the luckiest of days. And it was a pretty bad one for the employees at Ubisoft HQ in Montreal. Police responded to a phone call about a hostage situation taking place.
There was footage of employees taking shelter on the roof of the building. And the Montreal Police adviced people to stay away from the building as they investigated the situation.
Though as the police investigated the situation, they couldn’t find any evidence of an actual hostage situation taking place. People were evacuated from the building, and everyone was safe. It would seem the entire thing was a hoax.
No threat has been identified for now. We are currently evacuating the building. #SPVM https://t.co/7g7eHU2B1T
— Police Montréal (@SPVM) November 13, 2020
The Problem With Swatting
Swatting is a term used for doing a fake phone call to prank someone. And the practice has mostly been used during multiplayer games. Though it seems that Ubisoft Montreal now found themselves victims of this practice.
A lot of this seems to be a similar incident. There is of course no proof of this being the case, and it could all be a simple misunderstanding. But people are already speculating why the phone call was made, and most people seem to agree it seems to be the work of a fanboy.
— Ubisoft Montréal (@UbisoftMTL) November 14, 2020
Fake Call, Real Situation
Even though it’s good that the people are safe and the entire thing wasn’t real, there is one thing that is real. Situations like these cause a lot of distress for the people working. And it’s also a huge burden on the police, who have to respond when there might be actual crimes happening or something more important.
At least the situation was resolved quickly and without anyone being hurt. So it’s always better to not have a hostage situation. Ubisoft has commended the teams for showing courage and composure. And they thanked the SPVM for the quick and professional response, helping to bring the situation under control.