Police evacuate Ubisoft Montreal over what appears to have been a fake threat report

According to Canadian news outlet Journal de Montreal (now verified by several other Canadian news agencies), the physical building where Ubisoft Montreal (among multiple companies) is housed is under some sort of hostage situation, a revelation that’s sending shockwaves across social media this afternoon.

Overhead helicopter footage from yet another Canadian outlet shows dozens of people milling around on the roof of the building (presumably for safety, as they appear to have barricaded themselves outside); Le Journal says there’s a “large security perimeter and several police officers in the area” with other staffers supposedly “barricaded in conference rooms.” However, Montreal police have not actually confirmed what’s going on, only confirmed the “ongoing police operation.” CBC reports “heavily armed officers” descending on the scene.

There is an ongoing police operation at the corner of Saint-Laurent and St-Viateur. We ask people to avoid the area. The #SPVM is currently validating information and more details will follow. pic.twitter.com/44PjWzsCOh

— Police Montréal (@SPVM) November 13, 2020

Ubisoft community rep Eric Pope has been tweeting about the situation, saying he’d been “on a call with folks at the office and they had to leave abruptly.” He also tweeted a photo from another news channel, saying, “This is my team on the roof.”

apparently. was on a call with folks at the office and they had to leave abruptly

— Eric Pope is OFFLINE (@MrPope) November 13, 2020

https://twitter.com/MrPope/status/1327329554294312963

We’ll update as soon as we learn more.