The French gamer responsible for a fake hostage call that led to the eviction of Ubisoft’s Montreal office in November 2020 was sentenced to three years of community service by a Paris court this week. according to the Montreal Gazette. Ouahioune’s three-year sentence includes several other charges related to and against a DDoS attack on a French government office Minecraft Developer Mojang.
22-year-old Yanni Ouahioune made a hoax to police on November 13, 2020, claiming that hostages had been taken at Ubisoft’s Montreal office. A tactical police unit arrived in armored vehicles and evacuated the building. Other employees fled to barricaded rooms and onto the building’s roof before realizing there was no danger. The Ubisoft Montreal building in the Mile End neighborhood can accommodate thousands of workers
Court documents later revealed that Ouahioune was a Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege The player was upset that he was allegedly banned from the game more than 80 times. It was later revealed that he had searched the studio two more times, making a false 911 call to send a violent police response to the victim’s address. And
Ouahouune used a computer at his parents’ house and relayed the fake news through Russian servers, the Montreal Gazette reported. Ouahioune also asked about the charges Canadian newspaper La Presse to lift his ban Rainbow Six Siege Account: “Can you say that I kindly ask the Ubisoft team to unban my account,” Ouahioune said. “I have over $1,500 worth of cosmetic enhancements listed on my profile.”
The Montreal Gazette reported that as part of his sentence, Ouahioune will be required to “compensate victims, seek treatment for a mental health problem, and either work or attend an education.”
A Ubisoft representative confirmed the court’s decision in a statement to Polygon, without commenting on the penalty itself. “In this process, we are committed to representing the interests of our employees affected by this false hostage situation at our Montreal studio,” they said. “It was important to us to denounce this violent and unacceptable incident. Out of respect for our employees affected by this event, we will not comment further.”
