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"No Threat" After Hostage Situation Reported At Ubisoft Montreal Headquarters

Police say a phone call reported a hostage situation, leading to the evacuation of the building.

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A frightening situation at Ubisoft Montreal headquarters on Friday afternoon appears to have been resolved without any injuries. Police were called in for what it described as a hostage situation in Saint-Laurent, prompting "a large number of resources" to be deployed to the area. According to a press release issued on the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal website, it was ultimately determined there was no threat, seemingly confirming media reports during the incident that suggested police had been called as the result of a hoax.

Reports of a police operation emerged on Friday, with local news stations broadcasting footage of what appeared to be Ubisoft employees taking shelter on the roof of the company's offices. A tweet from the Montreal police said that it was responding to a 911 call and advised people to stay away from the area. It later said that no threat had been found and begun evacuating the building.

Ubisoft has employees working both from home and from the office. Eric Pope, community developer on Hyper Scape, said he was on a call with employees who had to "leave abruptly."

A Ubisoft spokesperson told GameSpot, "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."

In a separate statement on Twitter, Ubisoft said, "We want to salute the courage and composure our teams showed today, our focus remains on ensuring their health and wellbeing. We would also like to thank the SPVM for their quick and professional response, helping to bring the situation under control. We are extremely relieved this was resolved without incident and we'd like to thank you all for your support and kind words."

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