Robert Bowling, the founder of Robotoki studio, installed a panic button to protect his employees from harm. The same day the panic button was installed, one of Bowling’s associate developers was overcome with curiosity and pressed said panic button while on his way out of the building. The police immediately responded to the call and found Bowling and one other in the office as all of the other employees (including Curious George) had gone home for the day.

“Our studio is equipped with a ‘panic’ alarm in case of an armed threat, which was installed yesterday,” Bowling said. “One of our designers, who shall not be shamed, pressed it on his way out because apparently when boys find buttons that they are unsure of, their first instinct is to push it.”

As the police entered the building, they encountered Bowling, ordered him to place his hands above his head and took him into protective custody. During the sweep, police officers came upon a second individual who was heavily armed and prepared for a fight. This happened to be the same individual the police noticed standing in front of a large plate glass window as they approached Robotoki studios. The police confronted the armed individual only to find out it was nothing more than a manikin dressed as Ghost from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

“I was in my office when they arrived and saw them coming up our stairs, guns drawn,” Bowling said. “They yelled for me to put my hands up and walk towards them slowly, then took me into custody and out of the studio until they cleared the rest of the rooms and floors.”

After recognizing the character Ghost, the officers exited Robotoki studios laughing about the incident. Bowling was also released as he was neither a hostage nor a threat. Bowling, a former employee of Infinity Ward, had the panic button installed because sometimes fans like to send threatening letters to developers. After the ordeal ended, the police questioned Bowling on his line of work which led to Bowling and his new friends playing a few rounds of video games.

Robotoki is currently working on two titles, The Adventures of Dash and Human Element. The Adventures of Dash is a 2D side scrolling platform puzzle adventure game about a narcoleptic boy named Dash and has a Holiday 2013 release date. Human Element is about the rebuilding of civilization 35 years after a zombie apocalypse and the unpredictable nature of the human survivors. Human Element is scheduled for a Q4 2015 release. Both titles are being created for the PC with a console release to be determined.

Related Link(s):

• Robotoki Official Site

Source(s):

• Polygon